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GRATUITOUS. 



Persons desiring copies by mail, and enclosing ten cents to 
pay postage, will be furnished by addressing 

ELIAS BREVOORT, 

Santa Fe, New Mexico, 

BOST & JENKINS, 

San Francisco, Cal. 



777/s copy of Brevoorfs New Mexico is presented with the 
compliments of 



NEW MEXICO. 



HER NATURAL RE80URES Al ATTRACTIONS, 



BEING A 



COLLECTION OF FACTS, 



MAINLY CONCERNING HER 



Geography, Climate, Population, Schools, Mines and 

Minerals, Agricultuial and Pastoral Capacities, 

Prospective Railroads, Public Lands, 



AND 



SPANISH AND MEXICAN LAND GRANTS. 



BY 



, ELIAS BREVOORT. 



V"eritatis simplex Oratio est. 



SANTA FE: 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ELIAS BREVOORT. 

1874. 



Newspapers of New Mexico. 



The New Mexican,* Santa Fe. 

The Regimental Flag, Santa F6. 

The Cimarron News, Cimarron. 

The Railway*. Press and Telegraph,... Elizabethtown. 

The Las Vegas Gazette,* Las Vegas. 

The New Mexico Advertiser,* Las Vegas. 

The Republican Review,* Alburquerque. 

The Borderer, Las Cruces. 

The Mesill a News,* Mesilla. 

The Mining Life, Silver City. 

The Tribune, Silver City. 

The Mora Mail,* Mora. 



* Published in English and Spanish. 



» r A 



9-c 



Pi^ 



Oup^^ Authorities. 



Gentlemen we are mainly indebted to for Information. 



WILLIAM F. M. ARNY, Ex-Governor of New Mexico. 

JOHN A. CLARK, Ex-U. S. Surveyor-General for New Mexico. 

JOAB HOUGHTON, Ex-Judge Supreme Court, New Mexico. 

JOSEPH G. KNAPP, the same. 

JAMES K. PROUDFIT, U. S. Surveyor-General for New Mexico. 

DAVID J. MILLER, Chief Clerk and Translator for same. 

ABRAM G. HOYT, Register of the U. S. Land OtBce. 

F. V. HAYDEN, U. S. Exploring Geologist. 

CYRUS THOMAS, Agriculturist with same. 

W. J. PALMER, Director Transcontinental Rtxilway Survey 1867. 

C. C. PARRY, Naturalist and Geologist with same. 

ELIAS BREVOOKT, twenty-four years resideuter in New Mexico. 



OuR^ Refep^ences. 



Gentlemen of our Personal Acquaintance we take the 
liberty to mention. 



Gkneral L. C. EASTON, U. S. A., Leavenworth. 

Hon. MIGUEL A. OTERO, Granada, Colorado. 

GEORGE A. HAYWARD, 421 Olive street, St. Louis. 

Colonel A. J. BOONE, Denver. 

SAMUEL WETHERED, Baltimore. 

Hon. S. B. ELKINS, Delegate from New Mexico, Washington. 

General D. H. RUCKER, U. S. A., Chicago. 

LEVI SPIEGELBERG, 32 Church street, New York. 

Hon. a. M. JACKSON, Austin, Texas. 

Colonel H. M. ENOS, U. S. A., Milwaukee. 

HARRY M. MILLER, " Commercial " office, Cincinnati. 

Hon. JUAN H. ZUBIRAN, Chihuahua, Mexico. 

Hon. G. H. OURY, Tucson. 

General SAM. D. STURGES, U. S. A., Louisville. 

CHARLES W. KITCHEN, Salt Lake City. 

LEHMAN SPIEGELBERG, President Second National Bank, Santa Fe. 

JOAQUIN PEREA, 535 Clay street, San Francisco. 

D.'^-VIS & FRERET, 27 Commercial Place, New Orleans. 

GEORGE A. ROBERTS, with A. T. Stewart, Philadelphia. 

JOHNSON & KOCH, Santa Fe. 

ZENON De MORUELLE, Galveston. 

REYNOLDS & GRIGGS, Mesilla. 

CHARLES E. KEARNEY, Kansas City. 

D. D. BRAINARD & CO., Monterey, Mexico. 

MATTHIAS SMYTH, Merced, California. 

FRANK McMANUS, Chihualuia. 

BOST & JENKINS, 331 Montgomery street, San Francisco. 



p 



EDICATION. 



TO SOLID MEN, 

MEN OF MEANS AND ENTERPRISE, MEN DESIRING THROUGH SAFE 

INVESTMENT ALIKE THE WELFARE OF THEMSELVES AND 

THE GROWTH AND GLORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH, 

MEN OF PERCEPTION AND ACTION, 

EVERYWHERE, 

THE FOLLOWING PAGES, 

INTENDED 

TO PRESENT TO THE BONE AND SINEW 

OF 

THE WORLD OF CAPITALISTS AND OF PRODUCERS, 

FARMERS AND LIVE STOCK MEN, 

BY 

FAIR AND TRUTHFUL STATEMENT, 

THE NOW SCARCELY KNOWN OR APPRECIATED EXCELLENCIES 

OF THE 

TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO 

AS A FIELD FOR 

THE PROFITABLE INVESTMENT OF CAPITAL BEFORE THE COMING DAY 

OF 

RAILROADS, IMMIGRATION AND EMPIRE, 

MAINLY IN 

MINING, FARMING AND STOCKRAISENG, 

AND ESPECIALLY IN 

THE EARLY ACQUISITION OF LARGE LANDED ESTATES, 

ARE 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 

BY 



PREFACE. 



The little work we here offer has been prepared in more of a 
hurry than we could obviate, as our time and business engage- 
ments while occupied upon it did not permit that application to 
it of attention and labor which a due performance of the under- 
taking really demanded. Nevertheless we send it forth as it is. 
The only thing of the kind heretofore attempted was the 
pamphlet of about one hundred pages, Interesting Items regarding 
New Mexico^ gotten up and published last year by Governor Arny, 
the edition of which, owing to the great demand for it from 
abroad, was soon exhausted. This fact among others suggested 
to us the preparation of something of the same kind — though 
far above and beyond tliis motive we were actuated by a desire 
to labor in th>^ task of elevating New Mexico to the high position 
in the world of wealth and business to which her natural 
resources and her natural advantages certainly give her a 
commanding claim. 

The population of New Mexico hitherto has not, unfortunately, 
been of the progressive kind. The Spanish and Mexican race, 
of whom until recently ten tenths, and at this time nine tenths 
of the population is composed, has caused the country to pro- 
gress scarcely a move in the march of material improvement 
and wealth beyond what it was in the days of the Spanish vice- 
royalty in Mexico to which it was once subject. Hitherto 
we have had almost absolutely no institutions of learning, no 
statesmen, no public spirit, no boards of immigration, no colonies, 
no railroads. 

Each of the several territories of the United States aspiring 
to the position and rank of a state of the Union through the 
acquisition of population and the development of its natural 



PREFACE. 



resources and capabilities, has presented and urged incessantly 
its claims to the attention of the outer world through the instru- 
mentality of its local press and innumerable immigration pam- 
phlets. Surely it is time now that the oldest and most populous, 
and yet the least known because hitheito the least ambitious, of 
the territories, should enter the lists for the championship of 
them all. Like the sleeping giant. New Mexico has been repos- 
ing in the consciousness of her strength and power, to arouse when 
the time should come, and to assume among the political divis- 
ions and powers of the Union, and in the busy world, the posi- 
tion and rank to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God 
entitle her. 

But some of the great philosophers declared that no man does 
aught without a private motive. If this be true, then we, in 
preparing this our very imperfect little work on New Mexico, 
must have had ours; and if we had, we think it must have 
been in this, that being a land grant agent (see our card at the 
end), and being, as we think we are, thoroughly posted in all 
matters and things relating to or in anywise concerning Spanish 
or Mexican private land claims in the Territory — as to their 
locality, extent, character, capacity and title tenure — and being 
as we are as a "middle man " ready at all times to give infor- 
mation concerning any of them or to operate in their purchase 
or sale, we desired to enlarge our business in the ample field 
New Mexico now affords therefor. And if indeed such a 
motive we had, we only know that while one of business 
prompted us to the task, a feeling of pleasure in the work chiefly 
moved us in its execution. 



Santa Fe, May, 1874. 



NEW MEXICO. 



EXTENT, POPULATION, Etc. 

New Mexico has pertained, at different periods and with 
different boundaries* and extent, to three different nationalities 
— to Spain, to Mexico, and to the United States. Under Spain 
it was called the province of Nuevo Mexico, under Mexico the 
province, the territory, the state,! ^^d the department of Nuevo 
Mexico, and under the United States it is called the Territory of 
New Mexico, destined, we have no doubt, in a very few years 
to become one of the States of the American Union. 

The Territory was created by the act of the United States 
congress of September 9, 1850, and the territorial government 
put in operation ]March 1, 1851, with the eastern and southern 
boundaries as they now are, and with the northern along the 
thirty-eighth degree of latitude, and the western along the 
Rio Colorado of the west, the eastern boundary of the State of 
California. Afterwards a whole degree of latitude was by congress 
taken from us on the north, and given to the Territory of Colo- 
rado, then a portion of our northwest corner attached to the 
State of Nevada, and then the whole of the territory of Arizona 
lopped off from our western half — so that at this time the Terri- 
tory extends from 103° to 109° longitude west from Greenwich, 
and from 31° 47^ to 3 7° north latitude, in other words is bounded 
on the north by Colorado, on the east by Texas and Indian 
Territory, on the south by Texas and Mexico, and on the west 
by Arizona, and extends on an average three hundred and fifty- 
two miles north and south, and three hundred and thirty-two 
miles east and west. 



" The provincial deputation on January 4, 1828, In dividing the province 
Into civil jurisdictional districts, stated the boundaries of New Mexico as "on 
the N. the Arltansas river, on tlie S. New Biscay to tlic Mimbres mountain, on 
the W. the Mogollon mountain the Moqui Indian pueblos, thence to the licad- 
waters of the Rio Grande del Norte, on the E. the Senisos hills and pueblo of 
Jumanes, and thence southwardly over the sandhills." 

t The Mexican congress on February 4, 1824, erected the "'Northern 
State," created from the provinces of New Mexico, Chihuahua and Durango. 
We believe the law was soon repealed, mainly on account of a quarrel over the 
location of tlie capital, Durango demanding it at the city of Durango, and 
Chihuahua and New Mexico at the city of Chihuahua. 



12 BREVOORT's new MEXICO. 

— « 

The general face of the country, says the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office in his annual report for 1870, is 
constituted of high level plateaus, traversed by ranges of 
mountains from occasional isolated peaks rise to a great hight, 
and intersected by rapid streams of water flowing through beauti- 
ful fertile valleys, and channeling in the precipitous rocky cailons. 
The general course of the mountains, valleys and streams is from 
north to south, with the tendency to a deflection from northwest 
to southeast, or towards Mexico and the isthmus of Panama, 
the territory including the southern extension of the mountains 
constituting what is called in more northern latitudes the great 
Rocky Range, this being an elevated continental vertebral col- 
umn, extending from the Arctic Ocean to South America without 
losing its identity, or the chain of connecting peaks being 
broken, and following a line parallel with the genei-al contour 
of the Pacific coast throughout its whole extent. The 7'ivers of 
Neiv Mexico forvi parts of the water systems of both the Atlantic 
and Pacific slopes — those on the eastern side of the dividing 
range emptying into the gulf of Mexico by way of the Canadian 
and Mississippi rivers and the Rio Grande del Norte, and those 
on the western side flowing into the gulf of California by way 
of the Rio Gila and Colorado of the West. 

The general altitude of the mountain chains, rising on either 
side of the Rio Grande and Pecos, is between 6000 and 8000 
feet, and sometimes, especially in the northern sections of the 
territory, they reach the hight of 10,000 and 12,000 feet above 
the sea level. One of the mo;5t noted elevations is Mount 
Taylor, situated northwest of Santa Fe, which rises to a hight of 
10,000 feet above the valley of the Rio Grande, this valley 
having itself an elevation of between 5000 and 6000 feet above 
the sea in its northern extension towards the Colorado boundary, 
4800 feet at Alburquerque, and 3000 feet at El Paso, just across 
the southern boundary in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. 

The climate is considerably varied by the changes of latitude 
and by the elevation of the surface of the country. The salubrity 
of the climate is remarkable, and constitutes one of its most 
attractive features, the malarious maladies occasional in some 
localities of the Mississippi valley and elsewhere where the soil 
is imperfectly cultivated and surplus vegetation allowed to 
decay on the surface, being entirely unknown in New Mexico; 



EXTENT, POPUI.ATIOX, ETC. 13 



and seldom are persons here affected with pulmonary or hepatic 
diseases, while the presence of numerous thermal and other 
mineral springs, possessing extraordinary curative powers, 
promises to render it, as soon as tlieir virtues shall have Ix^conie 
as well known to the great public as now to the explorer and 
pioneer, one of the most popular places of resort by those 
residents of the cities and towns whose physical health is 
impaired, and who seek recuperation, and the beauty of its 
natural scenery nmst attract many who desire relief for minds 
overhxxed with the care and labor of arduous professions or 
engrossing mercantile pursuits. 

The plateaus, valleys and hillsides of New Mexico, continues 
the commissioner, are usually covered with various indigenous 
grasses, furnishing the best of pasturage for sheep and cattle, 
the most valuable and widely distributed of these grasses being 
a variety called the mesquite or grama grass, which grows 
during the rainy season of July and August, ripens under the 
influence of autumnal suns and dries upon the stalk, bearing a 
copious abundance of nutritious seeds, and constituting adequate 
support for every kind of live stock throughout the entire 
winter, and until the more rapidly growing herbage of the 
spring and early summer has attained sufficient growth to 
attract animals by its freshness from their winter sustenance, 
and furnish the change of food necessary to the most perfect 
development of animal life. The herdsman and shepherd in 
this country therefore possess great advantages over the farmer 
and stockraiser of the more eastern states, as the latter is 
compelled to spend a large portion of his time and labor in 
summer in providing food for the support of his stock during 
winter months; besides this advantage there is to be considered 
the fact that mildness of the winters and the slight falls of snow 
render shelter, other than that afforded by the valleys, and 
timber, entirely unnecessary for the protection of the herds and 
flocks, the pure air, wide ranges, and excellent food resulting 
in an extraonlinary healthiness of the animals, among which 
the contagious diseases, prevalent in other sections, arc almost 
entirely unknown, the horses being remarkable for their 
endurance, and the beef and mutton celebrated for their ex- 
cellence, while the flesh of the cattle and sheep is readily cured 
without the use of salt, by being hung up in the open air, the 



14 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

variety of the atmosphere soon producing a state of dryness, 
which will preserve it in all its natural sweetness and excellence 
for any reasonable period. The production of wool is at present 
one of the most profitable branches of industry in the Territory, 
and the recent introduction of the improved breeds of sheep, 
with the view of obtaining larger animals and finer qualities of 
fleece, will undoubtedly contribute greatly to the advancement 
of this interest. 

The mining interests of the Territory are important, and 
promise to constitute in the immediate future one of the chief 
sources of wealth and prosperity; the deposits of gold, silver, cop- 
per, iron and coal being extensive and valuable. Embarrassments, 
proceeding from Indian difB;culties, and from the want of ready 
means of transportation for supplies and products, have greatly 
retarded the development of the mines in the past; but recently 
the country has become more settled and sate, in consequence 
of the present beneficent Indian policy of the government and 
the efficient administration of the same, the result being new 
discoveries of valuable mines, and more profitable working of 
the older ones, the yield of gold and silver during the past year 
comparing very favorably with that of any of the past years in 
the history of this interest, notwithstanding the suspension of 
work on some of the principal mines, for the purpose of introduc- 
ing new and improved machinery with the view of their more 
economical working. The great desideratum in connection 
with the mining interest is better and cheaper modes of trans- 
portation, -which can only be furnished by the construction of 
railroads, and when these shall have been extended through 
the Territory — as they inevitably soon must be, in the course 
of American progress — the mines of New Mexico will undoubt- 
edly contribute greatly to the augmentation of the present 
annual product of the precious metals in the United States. 

There are certain portions of the Territory perhaps unfit for 
either cultivation or pasturage — but it is certain that almost all 
the valleys of the rivers, as well as the table-lands within reach 
of irrigation, are exceedingly productive, the soil possessing 
elements of great fertility, and the occasional scarcity of water 
alone preventing the more arid portions from producing excellent 
crops and superior indigenous herbage. The most abundant 
crops of the Territory are those of corn, wheat, barley, oats. 



EXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 15 



apples, peaches, apricots and grapes; all of these grains and 
fruits thriving readily, and the crops being of excellent tiuality. 
The soil, climate and nature of the surface are especially adapted 
to the culture of the grape, this being an importsint branch of the 
husbandry of the country, the yield of fruit being prolific, and 
the wine produced therefrom of excellent quality. Consequent 
upon the necessity of irrigation, cultivation of the soil is confined 
to those localities whore water from the rivers and streams can 
be readily obtained, the usual method of securing the necessary 
supplies being by constructing large canals, called aceqiiias 
madres, of sufficient capacity for an entire town or settlement,* 
at the cost of all who desire the benefits to be derived therefrom, 
along the most elevated portions of the valleys or over the 
greater elevations of the plateaus adjoining the foothills of the 
mountains, and from this main ditch each farmer constructs his 
own minor canal to the lands he desires to irrigate, the right of 
each to the use of the water being confined to certain hours in 
each week, in order that the supply may be fairly divided, a 
farmer being able, by the use of these ditches, to water thoroughly 
about five acres in a day, on even ground. The necessity for irri- 
gation is certainly the source of considerable trouble and labor to 
the agriculturist, but the certainty and excellence of the crops, 
which result from this care, and the comparative freedom from 
dependence upon the seasons, almost atone for this necessity. 
But it is gathered from well tried experiments that, xchen more 
attention has been given in this section to the planting of fruit and 
forest trees, the climate will be materially changed in this respect, 
greater supplies of rain following, and its fall being more evenly 
distributed through the several seasons. 

The principal forests of New Mexico are confined to the 
mountain ranges, being constituted chiefly of pine, cedar, sjiruee 
and other varieties of evergreens; but on the foothills extensive 
tracts of piiion, cedar and mes(iuite are found, and in the river 
bottoms, fringing the margins of the streams, are belts of 
Cottonwood, sycamore and other deciduous trees, while in the 



* The acequxas are often twenty or thirty miles long, and often afford consid- 
erable mill power. Eacli Irrigation is a new coating of manure to tlie soil, and 
cultivation by Irrigation, instead of Impoverishing, enrlclies the soil. The 
Spaniard two hundred and seventy years ago found the Pueblo Indians here 
cultivating the ground Ijy irrigation, and the same land has been go tilled ever 
since annually, and It Is still of undiminished fertility and productiveness. 



16 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

southern parts of the Territory groves of oak and walnut are 
abundant. 

We have made and we subjoin an estimate of the present 
popuhition of the Territory by counties, pueblos and country 
settlements. We fear our estimate of 121,250 — which it happens 
is just one inhabitant to the square mile — is too small in reality, 
and would not object to the readers adding, say five per centum 
to it. 

The census of 1870 shows a population of 91,871, and that of 
1860 showed a population of 93,516 — wherefore there appears 
prima facie to have been during the decade a decrease of 1645; 
whereas the truth is, there was an increase of more than 21,000, 
or about thirty per cent. An explanation of the case is important 
in the premises, especially as the want of it — owing in a great 
degree to the silence and, in this matter, docility of the local 
press — has for a long time unquestionably been giving the 
Territory a false and an injurious reputation among those 
ignorant of the facts. Indeed, we remember no instance of a 
reference to the subject by any of our journals, except in a 
recent article in the Daily New Mexican of Santa Fe, and from 
which article we here reproduce a portion: — 

"The other error is in regard to population. It is true that 
the census of 1870 shows an apparent loss of i^opidation during 
the preceding decade, but it is not really so. The population of 
New Mexico in 1860 was 93,516, but this included Arizona, with 
a population of 9,581, and a tier of counties, now in Colorado, 
containing 13,318, which were all set off from us during the 
decade, or a total of 22,899. By the census of 1870 we had 
91,871, showing that we really increased 21,254, or about 30 per 
cent, upon the population of the present territory of New Mexico, 
which was 70,617 in 1860, and not 93,516, as people generally 
suppose, and the mistake is but natural, for the censiis contains 
no note of explanation. We claim that, considering the embar- 
rassments under which our territory has labored, remote from 
commercial centers, far from railroads and with totally inade- 
quate means of communication and travel, with the false 
reputation of being largely inhabited and overrun by savages, 
our rate of increase was highly creditable. The average rate of 
increase of some twenty or more of the old states was but 20 
per cent, between 1860 and 1870. The actual rate of increase of 



KXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 17 

New Mexico property was greater in that tinio tlian that of 
Alal)auia, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georj^ia, Indiana, 
Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massac hussetts, Missouri, ^li.ssis- 
sippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee antl 
some other states. The increase since 1870 has been much 
greater than during any other equal lenght of time, and we 
think fully thirty per cent, already. Including our Pueblo 
Indians — who are peaceful, industrious and honest people, 
living upon farms that they have occupied from time imme- 
morial — we claim at least 130,000 people. Our flocks and herds, 
our mineral development and other substantial wealth has 
increased as fast in proportion as our jiopulation, if not faster, 
and we are abundantly able* to provide for an economical state 
government, such as our people will expect and demand." 

The fiicts and statistics, presented by the editor, are well 
founded awd correct; and from them appear what was really the 
population of the present territory at the census of 18G0, 
what it was in fact at that of 1870, and what was the actual 
increase instead qf the apparent decrease during the decade 
intervening between the two censuses, as follows: — 

Census of 1860 93,516 

Deduct Population given Colorado in ISO! 13,318 

Deduct population given Arizona In 1863 9,581 22,899 

Real census of 18b'0 70,617 

Census of 1870, alistl 

Real census of 1860 70,617 

Increase in the decade 21,254 

We very much doubt that the last census — taken four years 
ago — was a complete exhibit of our population. It seems to us 
that we had more people than that enumeration shows — that 
we must have had then 100,000 at least. But if it was complete, 
and if our estimate of the present population be correct, then 
during the last four years the Territory has augmented its 

* A main question Just now (May, '"•!) In New Mexico politics is SUite or Ko 
State; and it luus divided the politicians into Territory men and State men. Our 
delegate in congress — wiio is a Htate(s) man — has introduced a bill for an ena- 
bling act, and the article we liave (juoled from was written in the "State" 
interest. We may bo <• dble" to support a state government; but we think New 
Mexico and the New Mexicans are not re<uli/ and prcjxired Just yet for a slate 
autonomy. We want railroads ttrsU Tliese make the state, and not the state 
them. 



BKEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



population at least 29,379. We cannot believe we have estimated 
too small, in the following statement, the number of souls in 
the respective counties, towns, Indian pueblos and country 
settlements of the Territory. 



POPULATION OF NEW MEXICO. 

Names and estimated resident populations of the various cities, 
towns, villages, Indian Pueblos and cowities of the Territory. 



County Seats in smalTi caps, Indian Pueblos in Italic, Post- 
offices with*. 



In the County of Taos : 

*Fernando de Taos, 

Ranches de Taos, 

Rio Hondo, 

*Rio Colorado, 

Arroyo Seco, 

Embudo, 

Taos, 

Chemisal, 

Las Trampas, 

Picuris, 

*Castilla de New Mexico,!. 

Penasco, 

Santa Barbara, 

Picuris, 

Country settlements, 



Total, 13,025 

t The New Mexico and Colorado interritorlal line runs through the town. 



3,000 

2,000 

1,500 

1,500 

1,000 

500 

375 

325 

275 

250 

250 

200 

200 

150 

1,500 



In the County of Colfax: 

*ClMMAKRON, 

*Elizabethtown, 

Clifton, 

Ute Creek, 

*Rayado, 

Country settlements,. 

Total, 



1,800 

600 

125 

65 

700 

1,000 

4,290 



EXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 



19 



In the County of Mora: 

*MORA, 

*Sapello, 

CevoUa, 

Cueva 

*La Junta, 

Cherry Valley, 

*Lonia Parda, 

*Oeate, 

*Fort Union, 

Guadalupita, 

Country settlements,. 



Total, . 



3,000 

1,400 

1,'200 

1,000 

1,000 

800 

750 

75 

50 

650 

1,550 

11,475 



In the County of Rio Arriba 

Canada, 

*llito, 

Chama, 

*Ojo Caliente, 

*Tierra AmarlUa, 

* Abiquin, - 

Chaniita, 

^Pi.AZA Alcalde, 

Los Luceros, , 

La Joya, 

*San Juan, 

Cuchilla, 

Santa Clara, 

Country settlements, 



1,750 

1,100 

1,100 

1,000 

450 

1,050 

900 

925 

700 

650 

350 

75 

50 

1,900 



Total, I 12,000 



20 



BREVOOKT'S new MEXICO. 



In the County of Santa Ana: 

Santo Domingo, 

Jemez, 

Santa Ana, 

San Felipe, 

Cochiti, 

PEiiA Blanca, 

Algoclones, 

*Majacla,t 

Vallecito, 

Lia, 

Cubero, 

Jemez Springs, 

Country settlements, 



Total,. 



1,000 
800 
500 
400 
400 
G50 
500 
200 
150 
125 
100 
20 
350 



5,195 



t The town, nowadays frequently called Bojada, the Spanish for descent, is 
at the western base of a high mesa upon a main thoroughfare which there 
descends to the valley. It is properly Majada, the Spanish for sheep ranch, a 
large one at that spot one hundred years ago giving the place its name. 



In the County of Santa Fe: 

-8ANTA FE, 

C'himayd, 

Agua Fria, 

Galisteo, 

Las Truchas, 

San Ildefonzo, 

Tesuque, 

"'^■Pojoaque, 

Cienega, 

Real de Dolores, 

Tesuque, 

NamM, , 

Pueblo Guenoado, 

Pojoaque, 

Country settlements,.. 



Total, 13,355 



C,500 

1,500 

700 

650 

650 

570 

400 

440 

350 

150 

125 

100 

100 

20 

1,000 



EXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 



21 



lu the County of San Miguel. 

*Las Vegas, 

"Anton Chico, 

Tecolote, 

San ]Miguel, 

*8an Jo.s6, 

*Paerto de Luna, 

I/a Cuesta, 

FecoH, 

La Junta, 

Chaperito, 

Lienilre, 

Pueblo, 

■•Santa Rosa, 

Agua Negra, 

Los Valles, 

Las Colon ias, 

Rincon del Tecolote, 

Las Torres, 

Bernal, 

Guzano, 

Pecos, 

Hatch's, •. 

*F()rt Sumner, 

Country settlements, 



Total,. 



4,r)()0 

1,800 

1,200 

750 

750 

750 

700 

500 

500 

750 

500 

400 

150 

300 

800 

400 

175 

100 

100 

75 

000 

75 

250 

1,700 



16,175 



In the County of Bernalillo . 

* Alburquerque, 

Los Ranches, 

* Bernalillo, 

Ifslefa, 

Manzano, 

Chilili, 

"'^Alameda, 

Tajique, 

Barelas, 

Torreon, 

Pajarito, 

Atrisco, 

Sandia, 

Tijeras, 

Corrales, 

San Antonio, 



2,500 

2,400 

1,475 

1,200 

1,000 

700 

700 

050 

400 

050 

800 

250 

225 

150 

700 

100 



Forward, l4,oo(i 



22 



BKEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



County of Bemalilo, — continued: 

Forward, 

San Lorenzo, 

Padillas, 

San An toni to, 

Tejon, 

Country settlements, 



Total,. 



In the County of Valencia: 

ZUHI, 

Laguna, 

*Belen, 

*Peralta, 

CevoUeta, 

Valencia, 

*Los Lunas, 

Cubero, 

Acoma, 

*TOME, 

Rio Puerco, 

Casa Colorada, 

San Mateo, 

La Joya, 

Los Enlaraes, 

Las Lentes, 

Moquino, 

Carson Mine, 

Country settlements,. 



Total, 10,035 



In the County of Lincoln : 

Ruidoso, , 

*Fort Stanton, 

Placita, 

^Lincoln, , 

Ashland, 

*Roswell, 

La Junta, 

Real de Icarilla, 

Country settlements,. 

Total, 



500 
50 

1,500 
150 
500 
200 
250 
100 

1,200 

4,450 



KXTEJ«T, POPULATION, ETC. 



23 



In the County of Socoi-ro : 

*S0C0RR0, 750 

'Limitar, 7r)0 

*raraj?e, 700 

*Fort Craig, 50 

Polvadera, 600 

San Mareial, 1,000 

Sabiiial, 500 

*fc3an Antonio, 250 

Alamosa, 200 

*AIeman, 20 

Don Pedro, 100 

Silver Mines, 300 

Country settlements, 1,000 

Total, 6,220 

In the County of Grant : 

*Pinos Altos, 700 

*Fort Cummings, 50 

*Mimbres, 200 

Rito, 150 

Central City, 100 

*SiLVER City, 1,000 

Country settlements, 1,000 

Total, 3,200 

In the County of Dona Ana: 

*Mesilla, 2,500 

*Las Cruces, 1,750 

*Dona Ana, 700 

*Fort Selden, 50 

Mesa, 600 

Tularosa, 500 

Picaeho, 800 

Santo Tomas, 150 

Amoles, 100 

San Augustin Spring, 30 

Cou ntry settlements, 750 

Total, 7,430 



24 



BREVOORT's new MEXICO. 



RECAPITULATION. 



In the County of Taos,... 
" Colfax,. 



« Mora,. 
<' Rio Arriba,. 
" Santa Ana,... 
« Santa Fe,.... 
'< San Miguel,. 
<< Bernalillo,.... 

'< Valencia, 

'< Lincoln, 

<< Socorro, 

'' Grant, 

*< Dona Ana,... 



Total in Territory,. 



13,025 

4,290 

11,475 

12,000 

5,195 

13,355 

10,175 

14,400 

10,035 

4,450 

fi,220 

3,200 

7,430 

121,250 



CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 

The general elevation of the country extending from the 
Rio Grande to the Rio Colorado of the West, averaging as it 
does over five thousand feet above the level of the sea, and 
rising at several points to over twelve thousand feet, ensures for 
it that purity of atmosphere and coolness which characterize all 
elevated regions. Another important feature is also connected 
with the general southerly slope of the whole country, which, 
while it serves to interrupt and weaken the force of the cold 
northern currents, admits the warm winds from the south to 
precipitate their moisture on the higher slopes in the form of 
summer rains and winter snows. Hence, we have in these 
elevated districts a climate favoring the growth of trees, a more 
equable distribution of rain and precipitation of dew throughout 
the year, especially adapted to the production of nutritious 
grasses and the cultivation of grain without resorting to irriga- 
tion. These desirable climatic features are especially noticeable 
along the elevated slopes of San Francisco mountain in Arizona, 
where magnificent pine forests are agreeably interspersed with 



cli.matp: and health. 25 



beautiful grassy valleys and parks, numerous springs, and a 
delightfully invigorating atmosphere. In passing south along 
tlie n;itural course of drainage, we encounter at lower elevations, 
numerous fertile valleys, interrupted by rocky ridges and deeiJ 
canons, where the climate is milder, the summer heat more 
intense, and the severities of winter, such as are experienced 
within sliort distances in the higher elevations, are unknown. 
There is, however, sufficient rain in these lower districts to 
support a rank vegetation, and the copious water-courses offer 
every facility needed, in the way of irrigation, to mature late- 
growing crops. These sheltered valleys and irregular rocky 
slopes, now resorted to by the murderous Apaches for hiding 
places, will offer to their future civilized inhabitants comfortable 
winter quarters, where their flocks and herds can be safely 
sheltered during the inclement season, and kept in good condi- 
tion till the higher mountain slopes again invite them to their 
rich summer pasturage. In these favorable climatic conditions, 
we can safely determine the future location of the populous 
district of Arizona and New Mexico, which, very fortunately 
for railroad enterprise, occupies this central continental position, 
where extensive virgin forests, rich pastoral and agricultural 
lands, are nearly connected with vast undeveloped mineral 
resources to complete those desirable features, that will invite 
and retain a permanent population. 

The mildness and excellence and remarkable salubrity of the 
climate of New Mexico has become proverbial. The dryness 
and purity of the atmosphere all over the Territory, and espe- 
cially in the valleys, has induced many invalids afflicted with 
pulmonary and other diseases to test its salubrity, with great 
benefit to them and a prolongation of their lives. 

As evidencing the remarkably pure and even temperature of 
the atmosphere in New Mexico, we introduce here in a con- 
densed form an official report of the United States signal service 
station at Santa F6, for the year ending December 81, 1873. 

Monthly mean of barometer — January, 29.77 

<< <' " " February, 29.73 

'< " " " March, 29.73 

<< « « «< April, 29.72 

<< << " << May, 29,85 

<< " " <' June, 29.88 

" " «' " July, 29.92 



26 



BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 



Monthly mean of barometer — August, 29.97 

" " '< " September, 29.91 

" " " " October, 29.90 

" " " " November, 29.83 

« " " " December, 29.78 

Yearly " " " 1873, 29.83 



Monthly mean of thermometer — January, 27° 

« " February, 34° 

'< " March, 38° 

<< " April, 45° 

" " May, 58° 

" " June, 66° 

" " July, 67° 

" «< August, 87° 

" " September, 60° 

" " October, 49° 

" " November, 33° 

" " December, 32° 

Yearly " " « 1873, t49° 



Monthly rainfall in inches — January, 34 

« February, 20 

" March, 13 

" April, 14 

" May, 45 

" June, 2.44 

" July, 2.62 

" August, 2.98 

" Septeniber, 27 

" October, 25 

" November, 01 

" December, 04 

Yearly " « " 1873, 9.87 



The highest observed temperature during the year was 88°; 
the lowest 5° below zero. 

The greatest single rainfall was that of 1.21 inch, occurring 
on June 4. 

The wind traveled fifty thousand two hundred and twenty- 
five miles, the prevailing direction being north. 

It is supposed by many that, owing to the arid climate of 
New Mexico, and the reported small rainfall, water would be 
scarce. Such persons should remember that the reports are 



CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 27 

generally made In reference to the valleys, and that in the 
mountain ranges there are during the winter gononiUy heavy 
falls of snow, whicli supply our stroanis with an abundance of 
water by its molting during the spring and summer months; 
besides this, there are numerous springs all over the country, many 
of them hot and impregnated Avith minerals, and many of them 
cold springs. Thus we, in New Mexico, are blessed with pure 
air and water, both essential to health, and with the Nile of 
America for irrigation, we have abundance of w-^iter to cultivate 
the valleys of the Rio Grande and other great streams and their 
tributaries. 

On the subject of disease in New Mexico, we quote as author- 
itative and conclusive from a published letter of Doctor Lew. 
Kennon, now of Santa Fe, formerly connected with the United 
States army stationed here, and who has resided and practiced 
for more than twenty years, and is the leading physician in the 
Territory. In the letter referred to, writing of New Mexico, 
he says: 

* * * "It is certain that even when the lungs were 
irreparably diseased, very much benefit has resulted. Invalids 
have come here with the system falling into tubercular ruin, and 
their lives have been astonishingly prolonged by the dry, bracing 
atmosphere. 

" The most amazing results, however, are produced in ward- 
ing off the approaches of Phthisis, and I am sure there are but 
few cases which if sent here before the malady is well pro- 
nounced, would fail to be arrested. Where hardening has 
occurred or even considerable cavities been established, relief 
altogether astonishing takes place. 

" The lowest death rate from tubercular disease in America is in 
New Mexico. The censuses of 1860 and 1870 give 25 per cent. 
in New England, 14 in Minnesota, from 5 to 6 in the different 
southern states, and 3 per cent, in New Mexico. 

"I have never known a case of bronchitis brought here that 
was not vastly improved or altogether cured, and asthma as well. 

"Rheumatism and diseases of the heart, with or without a 
rheumatic origin, do badly here. Valvular dltticulty in that 
organ is invariably made worse. But the most astonishing 



BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



effect of this climate is seen in those cases of general debility of 
all the functions of body and mind — that tised up condition, the 
pestilent nuisance of physicians in the great cities. People 
coine here in a soi-t of debacle, having little hope of living, and 
often little desire to, and the relief is so quick as to seem mircic- 
ulous. 

" I have no doubt that when means of access to this country 
are better, and therefore it being better known, it will rival or 
supersede Florida, Madeira, Nice or Dr. Bennett's much vaunted 
paradise of Mentone, as a sanitarium. The country is far distant 
from either ocean ; it is utterly free from all causes of disease. 
The atmosphere is almost as dry as that of Egypt. The winters 
are so mild that there a?'e not ten days in the whole year an inva- 
lid cannot take exercise in the open air. The summers are so 
cool tliat in midsummer one or two blankets are necessary to 
sleep under. The whole territory has been always astonishingly 
free from epidemic disease. 

<<Forweakor broken-down children there is surely nothing 
like it on the face of the earth. With them the law of survival 
of the strongest, here seems not to obtain at all." 

Concerning the climate and salubrity of New Mexico, Dr. 
F. V. Hayden, who as an observer and an authority, is preem- 
inent, says in his published report for 1870: 

'< In order to understand properly the differences in climate 
and productions observable in the different parts of this section, 
it is necessary, not only to take into consideration the latitude, 
but also the variations in altitude, and proximity to high moun- 
tains. Beginning at the San Luis valley in Colorado, with an 
elevation of 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, we find when 
we reach Santa Fe in New Mexico, the height is still 8,640 feet, 
which is higher than some of the valleys further north. Keep- 
ing on the same plateau, and moving south, the elevations of the 
principal points are as follows: Galisteo village, 6,165; Los Cer- 
rillos, 5,804; Canon Blanco, 6,320, and a little southwest of the 
canon near Laguna Blanca, 6,943 feet. Moving southwest from 
this i^oint towards Alburquerque, we find the elevation at San 
Antonio is 6,408 feet. But when we descend into the immediate 
valley of the Rio Grande, as far north as Pefia Blanca, it is only 
5,288 feet above the sea level^ or 1,552 lower than at Santa F^. 
At San Felipe it is 5,220; at Alburquerque, 5,026; at Isleta, 



CLIMATIC AND HKAT/ni 29 



4,910; at Socorro, 4,560; at Alamosa, 4,200, and-at El Pasoabout 
3,800. Stra:ij?e as it may appear, when we cross the ridge east 
of Suiita I'o, to the headwaters of the Pecos, we Hud the altitude 
of Pecos village but (),;3()() feet — about 500 fec;t lower tiian at 
Santa Fc', while at Anton C'hico it is only 5,372 feet, correspond- 
ing very nearly with that of the Rio Grande valley at I'efia 
lilanca. 

I have given these particulars in regard to the elevation of 
this region to show that, sweeping around the southern terminus 
of the Kocky Mountain range, is an elevated plateau, or extended 
mesa, which reaching north along the inside of the basiu for 
some distance, occupies both sides of the river, but southward 
recedes from it. At Pefia Blanca we descend into the iiio Grande 
Valley proper, which continues along the southern course of the 
river, with little interruption tliroughout the rest of the territory. 
From this point south, fruits and tenderer vegetables and plants 
are grown with ease, which fail no farther north than Santa F6. 

As the Territory of New Mexico includes within its bounds 
some portion of the Kocky Mountain range on whicli snow 
remains for a great part of the year, and also a semi-tropical 
region along its southern boundary, there is, of necessity, a wide 
ditt'ereuce in the extremes of temperature. liut with the 
exception of the cold seasons of the higher lands at the north, 
it is temperate and regular. The summer days in the lower 
valleys are sometimes quite wai'm, but as the dry atmosphere 
rapidly absorbs the perspii-ation of the body, it prevents the 
debilitating etiect experienced where the air is heavier and 
more saturated witli moisture. The nights are oool and refresh- 
ing. Tlie winters, except in the mountainous portions at tiie 
north, are moderate, but the ditference beiween the northern 
and southern sections during this season is greater tijau during 
the summer. The amount of snow that falls is light, and 
seldom remains on the ground longer than a few hours. The 
rains principally fall during the months of July, August, and 
sometimes September, but tlie annual amount is small, seldom 
exceeding a iaw inches. When there are heavy snows in 
the mountains during the winter, there will be good t io])s tlie 
toUowing summer, the supply of water being more abundant, 
and the quantity of sediment carried down greater tluui when 

the snows are light. During the autumn months the wind is 



30 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

disagreeable in some places, especially near the openings between 
high ridges, and at the termini of or passes through mountain 
ranges. There is, perhaps, no healthier section of country to be 
found in the United States than that embraced in the boundaries 
of Colorado and New Mexico. In fact, I think I am justified in 
saying that this area includes the healthiest portion of the 
Union. Perhaps it is not improper for me to say that I have no 
personal ends to serve in making this statement, not having 
one dollar invested in either of these Territories in any way 
whatever. I make it simply because I believe it to be true. Nor 
would I wish to be understood as contrasting with other sections 
of the Rocky Mountain region, only so far as these Territories 
have the advantage in temperature. It is possible Arizona 
should be included, but as I have not visited it I cannot speak 
of it. There is no better place of resort for those suffetHng with 
pulmonary complaints than here. It is time for the health 
seekers of our country to learn and appreciate the fact that 
within our own bounds are to be found all the elements of health 
that can possibly be obtained by a tour to the eastern continent, 
or any other part of the woi'ld. And that, in addition to the 
invigorating air, is scenery as wild, grand, and varied as any 
found amid the Alpine bights of Switzerland. And here too, 
from Middle Park to Las Vegas, is a succession of mineral and 
hot springs of almost every character." 

The geologist and naturalist connected with the survey across 
the continent for railroad routes, made in 1868, speaking in his 
official report of the selected route across New Mexico for the 
Atlantic and Pacific railroad, says of the country : 

" A salubrious climate favorable to health and activity, acces- 
sible to the moist southerly currents, while at the same time 
protected from the severe northern blasts, receiving along the 
higher elevations precipitation of rain and snow sufficient to 
favor the growth of natural forests and upland grasses, without 
forming any obstruction to winter travel. 

A pleasant variety of atmospheric temperature, connected 
with diflferences ot elevation or exposure in closely adjoining 
districts, which can be selected to suit the requirements of the 
season, or the particular taste of individuals. 



climatj: and health. 31 

An agricultural capacity that in its proper development can 
be made ample to supply the prospective wants of this region, 
and in the production of fruits and garden vcgetal)los, can afford 
tlie delicacies that enter into the essential wants of civilized 
communities. 

A pastoral region unequaled in the extent or quality of its 
grasses, which, in adjoining districts, keeps up aconstant supply 
of nutritious fodder througli the year, requiring only the light 
labor of herding to secure the remunerative returns of this 
branch of industry. 

A mining region yet undeveloped but sufficiently known to 
be characterized as second to none on the continent in the extent 
and variety of its mineral products, only waiting for the facilities 
of railroad transportation to invite and retain permanent capital 
and industrious labor. 

A location of route which presents the special advantages of 
a main trunk line in being naturally connected with adjoining 
rich districts that will thus seek an outlet by branch roads to 
central commercial jjoints. 

All these several conditions combine to present those habi- 
table features which render the construction of a continuous 
railroad route not only highly desirable, but as a matter of 
speedy development, essentially necessary. 

The experience of our engineer parties has covered, in going 
and returning, nearly every season of the year, giving us a large 
amount of exact information on this subject; and we have, 
besides, the results of the experience of previous explorers, who 
have traversed the route, or a portion of it, in different years. 
Altogether, these observations cover such an extended period, 
that we may say there is very little to learn about the climate 
of this route, as it may affect railroad construction or travel, or 
the adaptation of the country to settlement. Although a vast 
new region, inhabited for the most part solely by Indians and 
game, we have such a mass of information on this subject, in- 
cluding the records of the military posts, that ire can feel entirely 
conjident of the practical deductions that may be made from 
this data. 



32 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

The route throughout is singularly favored in the matter of 
climate. The people of the eastern half of our continent have 
scarcely a conception of the physical pleasure of mere existence 
in the pure air and fine weather of this elevated southern plateau. 
For hea[t/tfidne.%s, it is conceded to have no superior. In our 
engineer parties, numbering with attaches, some 150 young- 
men, and exposed to numerous hardships, there was not, either 
going or returning, a single case of real sickness, and all came 
home much heartier and more robust than when they started. 
This covered also a winter in the mountain regions of Arizona. 
Our experience, in this respect, agrees with that of Beale, who 
says: 'During the entire winter (of 1858-9) my men were 
exposed night and day to the open atmosphere — some not using 
for the whole journey their tents, and others but very rarely, 
yet not one of them had occasion to complain of the sliglitest 
sickness during the journey.' " 

The observations taken by Dr. Parry, and the records which 
he obtained from the various government posts, show a remark- 
able uniformity of temperature throughout most of the route. 

u For railroad jjurposes, the climate is unexceptionable. I am 
satisfied that on no portion of the line will there be any greater 
liability to interruption of trains from snow or other winter 
obstacles, than there is, for instance, on the Pennsylvania 
Central Railroad. 

Personallj^, I passed over the entire mountain country west 
of the Rio Grande — including the Sierre Madre, two crossings 
of the San Francisco mountains (highest summit on the line,) 
and the Sierra Nevada — in the winter season, from the middle 
of October, 1867, to the middle of February, 18G8, without 
encountering but one snow storm, or seeing any snow lying on 
the ground, except on one point. This was a fall of two inches, 
at Fort Wingate, New Mexico, which had disappeared from the 
summit of the Sierra Madre by noon of the following day. 
During this period the days were uniformly mild and pleasant, 
and, although the nights were sometimes cold, I rarely used a 
tent on the journey. 

Our wagon trains made this long winter march through the 
mountains without difficulty, the mules and the herd of beef 



CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 33 

cattle, which was driven alonj? from the Rio Grande nearly to 
the Colorado, finding an abundance of grama and bunch grass 
even on the highest summits. 

Our party, on tlie return survey, encountered several storms 
of snow in Arizona and Western New Mexico, but it melted 
rapidly, and did not prevent the animals from thriving on ihe 
constant good grass. 

But little snow falls east of the Sierre Madre. On the summit 
of that range, at Navajo Pass (7,177 feet,) there was no snow 
early in November, 1867, when our parties crossed it. There 
had been, on October 31, a fall of two inches, which disappeared 
the next day. Whipple met none there late in November, 
1853. Chavez met a very little in crossing this range December 
21, 1868, but it was thawing December 25. Our return party, 
under Mr. Holbrook, encountered a severe snow storm on the 
5th of May, at Agua Fria, in this range, but it only lasted two 
hours, and melted almost immediately. Navajo Pass is a broad, 
smooth plateau, from three to ten miles wide, which would not 
give trouble, even if considerable snow should fall, which is not 
the case. There may be very rarely a ftiU as deep as eighteen 
inches, but it melts rapidly. At Fort Wingate, the yearly mean 
temperature, from 1863 to 1866, inclusive, was 52°. 

At the city of Santa F6, twenty miles north of the railway 
survey line, the heaviest snowfalls they have do not exceed 
fifteen inches, and these are very rare, and in all cases the snow 
disappears rapidly, sleighing never lasting more than two or 
three days at a time. In the valley of the Rio Grande, at Albur- 
querque, snow very seldom falls; and at Mesilla winter is 
scarcely known, figs being cultivated with great success. 



34 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, Etc. 

The one hundred and twenty-one thousand two hundred 
square miles, or nearly seventy-seven and a half millions of 
acres of land in New Mexico, are drained by innumerable rivers 
and creeks, some of the principal of which are the Rio Grande 
del Norte, flowing centrally from north to south through the 
Territory, the San Juan, the Chama, the Canadian, the Canada 
or Santa Cruz, the Picuris, the Pojoaque, the Tesuque, the Santa 
F6, the Galisteo, the San Cristoval, the Colorado, the Arroyo 
H«)ndo, the Taos, the Lucero, the Pueblo, the Pinos, the Ojo 
Caiiente, the Jemez, the San Jose, the Puerco, the Gallo, the 
Alamoso, the Gila, the Mimbres, the Pecos, the Bonito, the 
Hondo, the Ruidoso, the Gallinas, the Concho, the Mora, the 
Cimarron, the Vermejo, the Sapello, the Penasco, the Chamizal, 
the Tecolote, the Agua Azul, the Ocate, the Nutrias, the Navajo, 
the Rito Blanco, the Piedras, the Florido, the Animas, the Plata, 
the Colorado Chiquito, the Zuili, the Seven Rivei-s, the Peiiaseo, 
the Agua Negra, and numbers of smaller mountain streams of 
more or less volume. 

From the Rio Grande to the Colorado of the "West the whole 
country presents the character of a vast upland, crossed by a 
succession of mountain ridges, and basin shaped vallejs, inter- 
rupted by the product of recent volcanic eruptions in the form 
of extinct craters, cones, and streams of lava, which have over- 
flowed and buried up the lower sedimentary rocks. The prin- 
cipal mountain axes exhibit a granite nucleus, which, at certain 
points, is exposed to view in irregular mountain ranges, trend- 
ing northwest and southeast, and constituting the general 
frame-work of the country, as exhibited in the Sierra Madre, 
the Mogoyon Range and the Pinaleno Mountains of Central 
Arizona. Intermediate to these is the great table-land or mesa 
formation of Western New Mexico and Eastern Arizona, 
comprising the sedimentary strata of triassic and cretaceous 
rocks, which spread out into broad uplands, abruptly termi- 
nated by steep mural declivities, bounding valleys of erosion, 
or presenting isolated buttes and fantastically castellated rocks, 
that serve to give a peculiar aspect to the scenery. The prin- 
cipal foci of extinct volcanic action are represented by the ele- 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 35 

vated cones of San Mateo and San Francisco, attaininpf an 
elevation of over 12,000 feet above the sea, vvliose alpine 
slopes, reaching above the timber line, present in their cover- 
ing of snow the only wintry feature pertaining to this latitude. 

It is in the eastern section of this district, New Mexico, that 
we meet with the most populous and flourishing of the inter- 
esting tribes known as Pueblo Indians; here they secure not only 
defensive positions for their towns on the tabled summits of iso- 
lated hills, but also fertile valleys adjoining, suited to their rude 
agriculture, and a wild scope; of grazing country, limited only 
by the necessity of protection from the thievish and roving 
Navajo and Apache. 

What is known as the Navajo country, extending still fur- 
ther to the west and north, comprises a similar character of 
broken country, with fertile valleys, grassy slopes, and deeply 
sheltered cafions, especially adapted to their mode of life as 
nomadic and at the same time partially agricultural; still better 
suited, however, to the wants of an energetic civilized com- 
munity, who can properly appreciate the advantages of a 
healthful climate, combined with a useful variety of soil, and 
that picturesque beauty of scenery which adds such a charm to 
rural life. 

The district of the Rio Grande, so termed for convenience 
in describing the country, although chiefly confined within the 
bounds of New Mexico, penetrates into the southern portion of 
Colorado. Beginning at Punche Pass, about 38" 30' north lati- 
tude, it extends southward to the southern boundary of the 
Territory, and is about five hundred miles long. As far south 
as Santa Fe its width is tolerably uniform, averaging very near 
one hundred miles, but here it begins to expand rapidly on the 
ei^stern side, to embrace the area drained by the Pecos, termi- 
nating in this direction in the Llano Estacado or ''Staked Plain." 
Excluding the Staked Plain from our calculation, the entire area 
of this district amounts to about seventy thousand square miles, 
about five thousand five hundred of which belong to Colorado, 
according to the old boundary line. 

The district may conveniently be divided into three sections, 
corresponding with the natural aspect of the country: First, the 
San Luis Valley (sometimes called the San Luis Park,) which 



36 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

constitutes that portion of the district which lies north of the 
point where the Rio de Taos enters into the Rio Grande; second, 
the central portion of the Territory, including the Rio Grande 
Valley proper and the tributary valleys leading into it between 
the southern rim of the San Luis Valley and the southern 
boundary of the Territory; third, the Pecos Valley, which, 
beginning east of the mountains, about opposite Santa Fe, runs 
a little east of south to the Texas line, and includes only the 
area drained by the Pecos River. 

This district embraces nearly two-thirds of New Mexico, 
leaving a strip along the western boundary varying from fifty to 
one hundred miles in width, and drained by the tributaries of 
the Colorado and Gila rivers, and a triangular area in the north- 
east corner drained by the Canadian river. It embraces the 
central, and, with the exception of a few valleys, the most pro- 
ductive portion of the Territory; and, although much of it is 
occupied by broken ranges of mountains and elevated mesas 
yet there is a large portion which can be irrigated by the streams 
that traverse it, and a still larger ratio which affords rich pas- 
turage for sheep and cattle. Here also can be found every 
variety of climate, from the cold of the mountain region along 
its northern rim, to the tropical valleys of its southern border. 

The length of the Rio Grande valley from north to south, 
counting from the mouth of the Rio de Taos to the Mexican 
line, is about three hundred and fifty miles, with an average 
width of one hundred and ten miles. It is difficult to estimate, 
even with approximate accuracy, the amount of arable land in 
this area, as, with the exception of the comparatively narrow 
valley proper of the Rio Grande, it lies in small, irregular valleys 
and detached spots. And, in addition to this diflficulty, great 
diversity of opinion exists in regard to the average width of this 
valley, varying from two to twenty miles. Yet this difference 
is not wholly due to error in either party, as the term <' valley" 
is used in different senses, some meaning thereby only the bot- 
toms immediately along the river, while others include the 
lower terraces which at some points flank the bottoms. Perhaps 
the best data we have upon which to base an estimate is to be 
found in the report of Lieutenant Whipplej who, after a careful 
examination, estimates the cultivable area of a belt thirty miles 
wide, and one hundred and eighty miles long, east and west — 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC, 37 

reaching from Anton Chico to Campbell's Pass — at three hun- 
dred and sixty square miles, or one-fifteenth of the whole area. 
As this belt readies directly across the entire width of the sec- 
tion under consideration, it may be taken as an average of the 
whole; for, although it includes the valley of the San Jos6 on 
the west, the east end stretches over the broad Mesa de la Vista 
almost from Anton Chico to San Antonio. This proportion 
would give for the section nearly two thousand six hundred 
square miles of tillable land, which miy be increased by the 
proper husbanding of water. 

In order to understand properly the differences in climate 
and productions observable in the different parts of this section, 
it is necessary, not only to take into consideration the latitude, 
but also the variations in altitude, and proximity to high moun- 
tains. Beginning at the San Ijuis Valley in Colorado, with an 
elevation of 7,<l()(> feet above the level of the sea, we find when 
we reach Santa E6, in New Mexico, the height is still 6,840 feet, 
which is higher than some of the vallej's further north. Keep- 
ing on the same plateau, and moving south, the elevations of 
the principal points are as follows: Galisteo, 6,165; Los Cerillos, 
5,804; Canon Blanco, G,320, and a little southwest of the canon, 
near Laguna Blanca, 0,948 feet. Moving southwest from this 
point toward Alburquerque, we find the elevation at San 
Antonio is 6,408 feet. But when we descend into the imme- 
diate valley of the Rio Grande, as far north as Pena Blanca, it 
is only 5,288 feet above the sea level, or 1,552 lower than at 
Santa Fe. At San Felipe it is 5,220; at Alburquerque, 5,026; 
at Isleta, 4,910; at Socorro, 4,560; at Alamosa, 4,200, and at El 
Paso about 3,800. Strange as it may appear, when we cross the 
ridge east of Santa Fe, to the headwaters of the Pecos, we find 
the altitude at Pecos Village but 6,360 feet— about 500 feet 
lower than at Santa Fe; while at Anton Chico it is only 5,372 
feet, corresponding very nearly with that of the Rio Grande 
valley at Pena Blanca. 

These particulars in regard to the elevation of this region 
show that, sweeping around the southern terminus of the Rocky 
Mountain range, is an elevated plateau, or extended mesa, 
which, reaching north along the inside of the basin for some 
distance, occupies both sides of the river, but southward recedes 
from it. At Pefla Blanca we descend into the Rio Grande 



38 BllEVOORT'S NEW MEXICO. 

Valley proper, which continues along the southern course of 
tlie river with little interruption throughout the rest of the 
Territory, From this point south, fruits and the tenderer vege- 
tables and plants are grown with ease, which fail no farther 
north than Santa Fe. 

But the difference in altitude is not the only influence tend- 
ing to vary the temperature and vegetation between the north- 
ern and southern parts of the section, for about opposite the 
point where this lower level begins, the mountain range on the 
oast terminates, and, as a matter of course, the depression of 
temperature and the cold of the nights, so far as caused by the 
proximity of snowy peaks and icy waters, also ceases. 

From the region of the Galisteo south the features of the 
country change; instead of the vast and lofty ranges of the 
Rocky Mountains, a succession of shorter, narrower, and less 
lofty mountains, forming a chain which runs directly north and 
south a short distance east of the river and almost parallel with 
it; and what is somewhat remarkable, instead of corresponding 
with the range east of the San Luis Valley, this chain runs 
almost directly in a line with the bottom of the valley. While 
the mountains have thus diminished, on the other hand the 
miniature table lands of the regions farther north are here 
replaced by vast plateaus which spread over the country, form- 
ing its general level, out of which are scooped the valleys and 
basins. 

On the east side of the Rio Grande, between the Taos Val- 
ley and Joya, the country is broken and mountainous, mostly 
covered with a heavy growth of timber, chiefly pine and fir. 
This area is traversed east and west by a few small streams, 
which are bordered by narrow strips of cultivable lands. Tlie 
three principal ones are the Peiiasco, Pueblo, and Chamizal; 
the first being a vigorous creek which traverses a valley vary- 
ing in width from one to five miles, which is flanked on each 
side by high bluff's. A good part of it is already under culti- 
vation, and, as the soil is fertile and the valley sheltered, the 
crops produced are quite heavy. The other two are smaller 
and less important tlian the Penasco. 

Between this broken region and the Rio de la Canada or 
Santa Cruz, on the south, lying along the Rio Grande, is a mod- 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. .'J!) 



erato breadth of arable land, some of which is very fertile, and 
produces not only the hardier cereals, as wheat, oats, and barley, 
but also corn, Aviiich {^rrows larj^o and fine. The tillable an'a 
here could be considerably enlarged by irrigation from tiie llio 
Grande. 

The Rio do Santa F6, Rio Galisteo, and Tuerto Creek afford 
strips of arable land, varying in width from one to ten miles; 
but here also the amount might be increased by proper efforts 
and more extensive acequias. 

The valley of the Rio Puerco is flanked by elevated table 
lands, and its lower portion is not supplied with living water 
but a part of the year; but its principal tributary, the San Jose, 
runs through a fine, wide valley, in which there is a consider- 
able amount of cultivated land and a number of villages, the 
breadth available for agricultural purposes being equal to the 
capacity of the stream. 

At Santo Domingo the valley of the Rio Grande is quite 
narrow, and continues so for about six miles below San Felipe, 
where it again widens to six or seven miles, the soil being quite 
sandy. At Bernalillo it is of considerable breadth, but grows 
naiTow in the vicinity of Zandia, again expanding and affording 
a toleraI)le broad area at Alameda. From Alameda to a point 
some distance below Isleta, there is a moderate width of good 
bottom land. Contracting near Peralta, it widens again in the 
neighborhood of Tome with improved soil, the belt continuing 
with very little interruption to the bend of the Rio Grande, 
below the mouth of the Puerco, where the bordering hills close 
in upon it, reducing it to about one mile. At Socorro there is 
a medium belt, which expands southward, presenting a very 
fine agricultural section, which is interrupted in the vicinity of 
of Fra Cristobal mountains. Between San Antonio and Dona 
Ana are some of the finest portions of the whole valley, oi)po- | 
site which on the east side stretch the sandy wastes of the 
dreaded Jornada del Muerto. Near Mesilla and Dofia Ana are ' 
also some fine openings, which are partially cultivated. 

The volume of water sent down by this river is sufficient to 
irrigate an immense area of land. At Tome, Lieutenant Emory 
found by mea.surement the entire volume, including two ace- 
quias, to be equal to a width of ninety-three feet and depth of 



40 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

two feet, or the area of a transverse section, one hundred and 
eighty-six square feet. The rate of fall between Peiia Blanca 
and Isleta is nearly six feet to the mile. 

As a general thing the soil along the Rio Grande is quite 
sandy, but when well watered proves to be very fertile; and, 
although seemingly adai)ted to the growth of wheat, this cereal 
does not prove as productive here as farther north. Indian corn 
grows finely, and when the better varieties are introduced and 
cultivated, large and remunerative crops may be raised. Here 
is to be found one of the finest grape-growing sections in the Union, 
its only rivals being the valleys of California. All the usual 
varieties of fruit can be raised in abundance and with great 
ease. Melons, pumpkins, frijoles, and in the southern extrem- 
ity, cotton, can be produced. In the greater jmrt of this valley 
two crops of cereals can be raised in one season. 

The valley of the Pecos river is one of erosion, worn out of 
the broad plateau of this region, and presenting, north of the 
Guadalupe mountains, the appearance of one vast arroyo. Its 
tributaries are few, and, with the exception of two or three, of 
but little importance in an agricultural point of view. 

The Gallinas river and its tributaries afford narrow belts of 
fertile soil, the area being equal to the supply of water. Around 
Las Vegas a considerable breadth is under cultivation, corn 
being the chief crop. The Pecos, to its junction with the Gal- 
linas, runs through a very narrow valley, which has been cor- 
rectly described as <' ribbon-like," a few bay-like expansions 
forming the only exceptions, as at San Miguel. The valley 
bottom throughout this distance is generally flanked by high 
bluffs, which sometimes, as In the neighborhood of La Cuesto, 
reach an altitude of five hundred feet. Lieutenant Whipple, 
whose line of survey crossed at Anton Chico, estinmtes the 
cultivable land In a belt thirty miles wide and reaching directly 
across thjs section, from Pajarlto creek to Anton Chico, at oner 
thirtieth of the area embraced, In the neighborhood of Fort 
Sumner there is a considerable breadth of fertile land which 
can be irrigated, and which is well adapted to the growth of 
fi'ultH and grapes. Along the headwaters of the Rio Bonito 
there are some fertile spots, where not only fine crops of cereals 
are raised, but where fruits, grapes, and even sweet potatoes 
grow well. 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 41 

From the north end of the Giiadalu])o Mountains to the 
mouth of the Delaware River the valley of the Pecos is level 
and very fertile, averaj^inj^f in width wme three or four miles. 
The tillable area could be extended far beyond the immediate 
bottoms. For here the plateau, instead of terminating- in abrupt 
bluffs, de-scend.s {gradually and in a somewhat gentle slope to 
the river bottom. The supply of water in the river being ample, 
and the fall rapid in this part of its course, irrigating canals 
could be carried far up the slope, if not to the toj) of the plateau. 
The soil on the upper level possesses all the ingredients neces- 
sary to productiveness, except that furnished by water. Supply 
this and all the table lands of New Mexico will yield rich returns 
for the laI)or bestowed upon them. 

The valley in which the Mexican town of Don Fernandez de 
Taos, and the Indian pueblo of Taos, known as the Taos valley, 
in the northern section of New Mexico, are situated, may be said 
to be formed by a notch or bend in the mountain range. On the 
southwest is the Picuris Range, with a strike nearly northeast 
and southwest. The next range east of this trends about north 
and south. It is about eighteen miles in extent from east to 
west, and sixteen from north to south, the narrow valley of the 
Arroyo Hondo forming its northern extremity. There is also 
an open area, about eight miles wide, on the west side of the 
Rio Grande, which may properly be counted as a part of it. 
The entire area, including the strip west of the river, amounts 
to about two hundred and fifty square miles, or one hundred 
and sixty thousand acres, a large part of which may ultimately 
be brought under cultivation. The deep arroyo or valley at the 
north end is from one to two miles wide, affording a fertile 
spot, easily irrigated, where there is a small Mexican settlement 
and village. The entire valley of Taos seems to have been one 
broad field of sage, which, on the parts where it has not been 
disturbed, excludes every other growth, giving a very barren 
appearance to the landscape. 

Besides Taos there are several other villages and settlements, 
ohiefly Mexican, in the southeast part of the valley. The 
amount of land in cultivation is not more than fifteen thousand 
acres. Unless the cafion through which the Rio Grande emerges 
Into this valley should present some Insurmountable difficulty, 
the greater part of its area may be irrigated, the northern and 



42 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

western portion from this river, and that part along the moun- 
tains from the streams that flow into it. 

The soil is quite different from that of the valleys further 
north, being very finely pulverized and loose; it also is of con- 
siderable depth and very fertile. The cause of its fertility will 
be understood from the following quotation, made from the 
preliminary report of the United States Geologist on tlie "Geolo- 
gical Survey of Colorado and New Mexico," 1869, p. 70: 

" The valley proper is scooped out of the Santa Fe marls, 
which must at one time have prevailed extensively, as in the 
country north of Santa F6, but the surface has been smoothed 
off, so that nowhere are the marls conspicuous; still they can be 
seen all along the base of the mountains bordering the valley, 
where portions of the recent deposits lie high on the mountain 
side. No sedimentary rocks of older date are seen, and the 
Santa Fe marls rest directly on the metamorphic rocks." 

The effect of this marl upon the appearance and character of 
the soil is plainly seen. Tlie consequence is, that that which in 
its wild state appears as but a barren sage plain, across which 
the wind sweeps the fine particles of the light soil, piling it in 
little heaps around the bushes, by the application of water is 
changed into a fertile field. Sufficient wneat to supply the 
Territory might be raised in this valley. It is considered the 
best wheat growing region in New Mexico. The climate appears 
to be milder here than in the San Luis Valley proper in Colo- 
rado, although but narrowly separated from each other, and 
the difterences of latitude and altitude being slight. 

The Cimarron and Vermejo rivers afford considerable breadth 
of arable land, the former presenting a valley some twenty-five 
or thirty miles long, varying in width from one to six miles, 
which can be easily irrigated. The latter presents a valley of 
more uniform width, and bordered, generally, by higher lands. 
It is about the same length as the former, and whei-e we crossed 
it about two miles wide, and very rich and fertile, the creek 
supplying sufficient water to irrigate the whole of it. 

The Rayado runs through a valley somewhat similar to that 
of the Vermejo, the bottoms being very low and easily irrigated, 
but they are subject to occasional overflows. The creek is 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 43 

sufficient to supply the lower level with water for Irripfiitlon, 
but the second level is rather too high to bo readied except by 
a leng-thy canal. 

The Ocate winds tlirougli a narrow valley of erosion, the 
Iiitrh bordering blufls descending to it in steep curves, beautifully 
carpeted over with grass. Not a tree or bush is to be seen; all 
is as smooth as a meadowy lawn. This valley is gen(>rally 
narrow, varying from one-half to a mile or so in width, but it 
expands as it approaches the river. 

The Mora valley is the finest in this section, and, next to the 
Taos valley, the best wheat growing region in the Territory. 
The upper or mountain portion of it is some eight or ten miles 
long, and about three miles wide. After passing out of this 
through a narrow gorge, the creek enters the more open plains, 
and is bordered for the greater part of its length by a tolerably 
broad and very fertile valley. The entire lengtli is, perhajjs, 
some sixty or seventy miles, and the width of the irrigable lands 
that skirt the creek will probably average four or five miles. 

The comparatively low elevation and southeastern exposure 
of this section, together with the mountain barriers west and 
north, give to it a more moderate climate than that of the 
section immediately west. Not only is wheat, which is produced 
here, remarkably fine, but corn grows large, with full, fine ears. 
The fruits, if cultivated, would produce crops almost, if not 
quite, equal to those of the Rio Grande valley. And in the 
southeast part of the section, along the Canadian river, grapes 
can be grown without any difficulty. The native grape, without 
having the aid of irrigation, grows here in rich profusion, the 
stunted vines often being loaded down with the clusters. 

The Canadian river (called indiscriminately the Canadian, 
the Rio Colorado, and Red river), is the great water artery of 
that section of New Mexico, lying between the Raton mountain 
on the north, and the Pecos river section, or Llano Estacado, on 
the south and southwest, and which contains about 15,000 square 
miles. Professor Cyrus Thomas estimates the area of arable land 
in the section of about 140(1 square miles, or 900,0(»() acres; but 
his estimate, founded upon slender and unreliable data, is 
probably very much too small. The pastoral extent and capacity 
of the section is said to be unsurpassed. The Canatlian, rising 



44 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

in the Baton mountain, runs southeast for about one hundred 
and fifty miles, to Fort Bascom, where it turns east, and passes 
out of the Territory, a little north of the thirty-fifth parallel — 
its whole length within the limits of New Mexico being about 
two hundred miles. Most of its tributaries of any importance 
in an agricultural point of view flow in from the west, of which 
the following are the principal ones: Vermejo, Little Cimmarron, 
Ocate, Bayado (a branch of the Ocate,) Mora, Bio Conchas, 
Pajarito creek, and Tucumcari creek. 

As will be seen by a glance at the map of this region, its 
western part slopes eastward , while the general descent is 
toward the south. Hence the highest portion of its general 
surface is found in the northwest angle, where the elevation is 
probably about five thousand feet above the sea-level, while the 
southeast corner, which is the lowest, has an elevation of only 
three thousand feet. 

Starting from the crest of the Baton mountains, immediately 
above the source of the Canadian river, after, passing down 
through a dense forest of magnificent pines and firs, we enter a 
beautiful little valley, covered over with a thick swai'd of 
luxuriant grass. Here a considerable amount is annually cut 
for hay, and taken to Trinidad. But this valley soon terminates, 
and the little stream and road enter a rugged canon, bordered 
by precipitous bluffs of gray sandstone, which continue to the 
plains at the base of the mountain. Here a grand panoramic 
view spreads out toward the south; a broad, valley-like plain 
slopes southward as far as the vision will reach. Scarcely a tree 
or shrub is to be seen; all is one smooth, grassy carpet, which, on 
the distant gentle slopes, looks more like pale, pea-green velvet 
than anything else to which I can compare it. Bising up from 
the broad base are two or three huge basaltic tables, lifting their 
perfectly level surfaces one hundred and fifty feet or more into 
the air, and all clothed in the same velvety covering, but which 
fails to destroy the sharp outline of circular rim. The little 
stream, like a silvery thread, is seen winding its tortuous course 
along the gently descending plain, joined now and then by a 
slender rill flowing down from the mountain on the west. It is 
a magnificent pasture ground for sheep and cattle , where 
thousands might be grazed securely at a very small expense. 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 45 



Tho Rio San Juan, a large and important tributary of tlio 
Colorado of the West, althougli rising in the San Juan moun- 
tains of Colotado territory, bends south and traverses tlie north- 
west portion of New Mexico, where if receives a number of 
affluents. These valleys afford an extensive breadth of very 
rich land, which can be irrigated, and which will produce fine 
crops of the cereals, vegetables and fruits, usually grown in the 
Middle States. As this area, said Prof. Hayden, in 1868, 
appears to !)e almost, if not entirely, unoccupied, it wouhl 
present a good point for a colony, and, indeed, colonies are at 
this time (1874) being established there; and the excellencies of 
the region are attracting a large permanent mining and agri- 
cultural population into that section. We have elsewhere 
written more fully of the San Juan river and of tlie section it 
traverses. 

The Gila river in southwestern New Mexico has upon its 
margins much good agricultural land, a long distance above 
where it enters Arizona, but the bottom lands about the head- 
waters of the stream are said to be pebbly, and comparatively 
inferior. Emigration however is extending westward, and 
much of it settling down in the Gila country, where, among 
other inducements, the good mining character of the mountain- 
ous region adjoining on the north and south is a principal 
attraction, several very valuable discoveries of gold, quartz and 
placers, and of copper ore, having been recently made, though 
as yet the country has been but to a limited extent penetrated 
and explored by prospectors. 

The Rio Mimbres, in the same section of the Territory as 
the Rio Gila, runs through a beautiful valley of moderate width 
and fertile soil, where all the productions of the Central States 
can be raised, and where even those things which belong .to a 
more southern climate can be grown without difliculty. This 
river is a smaller stream than the Gila, and the land along its 
margins is being much more rapidly occupied by settlers under 
the homestead laws, there being no Spanish or Mexican or other 
grants (except the Texa.s Pacific railroad subsidy), anywhere in 
that section of country. 

The Rio Puerco, the first stream of any considerable size 
west of the Rio Grande (in the central part of the Territory), 



46 brevoort's new Mexico. 

into which it empties, runs through a deep, narrow channel 
nearly its whole course, having along its margins wide and fer- 
tile bottom lands, which are being settled upon in many places, 
now that the hostile Navajos, who for centuries had prevented 
the extension of settlements westward, have been reduced to 
subjection, and are no longer to be feared. The water is not in 
all places permanent in it all the year round, but can be made 
permanent and available by sinking or damming, as has been 
proven by some of the settlers upon west of Alburquerque, and 
by which means they obtiiin all the supply of water needed. 
In the months of May and June we have seen the Puei'co carry- 
ing an average volume of muddy water ten feet wide and four 
feet deep. 

The Rio Pecos is an important and a very beautiful stream, 
heading a short distance east of the city of Santa Fe, and 
emptying into the Rio Grande in Texas. It is an exceedingly 
crooked stream its whole length, with a very narrow and deep 
channel, its width averaging, we think, about a hundred feet, 
and its depth about eight feet — the water depth perhaps about 
five feet. The water in the stream in New Mexico is clear and 
sweet, though after it enters Texas it becomes so brackish or 
salty as to be utterly unpalatable, owing to the extensive alka- 
line regions it traverses as it approaches the Rio Grande, Upon 
its banks in New Mexico there are numerous towns and settle- 
ments, and many thousands of acres of excellent land are irri- 
gated with its water, and thousands of herds of sheop and cat- 
tle are found grazing upon the extensive pasture grounds in its 
vicinity. 

The Tecolote is a brisk little river, the principal settlement 
upon it being the town of that name in San Miguel county. 
The average width of the creek is, we think, about seventy- 
five feet. 

The Gallinas is a beautiful and an important stream, having 
upon its margins various flourishing towns and settlements, the 
principal of which is the city of Las Vegas, county seat of San 
Miguel. It is somewhat larger than the Tecolote, and has upon 
its banks a greater number of settlements of all kinds. 

But we cannot stop to describe even briefly all the principal 
streams of the Territory. None of them are large rivers, but 
all are handsome streams and important water-courses in the 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 47 

natural economy of New Mexico. The one first mentioned in 
our catalouue — called indiscriminately the Rio (Jrande, the Ilio 
Bravo, the Ilio del Norte, and the Rio Grande del Norte, is not 
only the f!:reat river of New Mexico, hut it is the Nile of Amer- 
ica, having a most striking resemhlance to this great African 
river. It is 1,800 miles in length, and of almost eciual volume 
from the source to the mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. It has 
two hranches, and Hows hundreds of miles without receiving a 
tributary. It is fed almost entirely from the Rocky Mountains. 
An annual rise occurs about the month of June from the melt- 
ing of the snows each spring. Like the Nile, it is almost the 
sole reliance of the former. The natives have made to each 
town and adjoining lands, canals for irrigation. These are often 
twenty or thirty miles in length, affording also considerable 
mill power. The waters of the Rio Grande, like the Nile, are 
exceedingly turbid, carrying a large proportion of sediment — 
probably at high water one-fifth of the bulk of the water. 
Each irrigation is consequently a coat of manure to the soil; 
and cultivation by this process instead of impoverishing the soil 
enriches it. The natives never use any other manure. In El 
Paso valley the Spaniards found a tribe of Indians cultivating 
the soil nearly three hundred years ago, and it has been culti- 
vated continually ever since, yet the soil is of undiminished 
fertility. 

The valleys of all the streams are extremely rich and produc- 
tive, and the uplands everywhere in the Territory are vastly 
more so than the unexperienced and unreflecting would expect 
or believe. Professor Hayden on this subject says: << It is only 
after a careful examination of a vast number of experiments 
made in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, &c. , that I 
am forced to acknowledge what I before did not believe, viz: 
that tcherever there is soil in these regions, it is rich in the pri- 
manj elements of fertility. Major Emery, in his 'Reconnoisance 
in New Mexico and California,' speaking of the Mora Valley, 
says: 'The plains were strewed with fragments of brick-dust, 
colored lava, scorite, and slag; the hills to the left capped with 
white granular qu irtz. The plains are almost de->titute of vege- 
tation; the hills bear a stunted growth of pinon and red cedar.' 
And although he adds that rain had recently fallen, and the grass 
in the bottom was good, yet it fails to obliterate the picture of 



48 BREVOOET'S new MEXICO. 

barrenness he had drawn. But that which wore such a desolate 
appearance in 1846 is now one of tlie richest wheat-growing 
valleys in the whole Territory, its only rival being the Taos 
valley, which was once covered with nothing but sage-bushes, 
and was likewise counted as barren and worthless." 

The Territory has its prairie districts and its timber districts. 

In most of the mountain caiions and gorges, timber, large 
and excellent, principally pine, is found in great quantity. The 
report of the 35th parallel railroad route through New Mexico 
refers to the supply of timber to be found along the proposed 
railway line. 

From the most reliable data within reach, we estimate that 
in New Mexico there are five millions of acres of timber land, 
including all lands not destitute of trees. In New Mexico the 
timber region commences twenty to thirty miles west of the 
Rio Grande, near latitude 32° 30^, and extends to the north 
boundary of the Territory. In places, to wit : at and above lat- 
itude 35° 30^, it approaches nearer to the river, but within the 
above limits there are extensive prairies or plains, covering 
probably three-fourths of the entire area. East of the Rio 
Grande the timber is confined chiefly to the range of moun- 
tains commencing at the north boundary of the Territory, and 
terminating a few miles southeast of Santa Fe, the Sandia 
mountains southwest of Santa Fe, and the Sierra Blanca and 
Sacramento mountains in the vicinity of Fort Stanton in the 
southeastern portion of the Territory. 

From the Pueblo of Isleta on the Rio Grande, to the Mexican 
town of Rito, forty-eight miles west, there is no timber except 
cedar bushes on the Rio Puerco. The cedar thickets which 
Whipple found on the Puerco, in 1853, have all been swept away 
for fuel by the Rio Grande settlements. The construction tim- 
ber for this section must come by rail from the Sandia moun- 
tains east of Alburquerque, an average haul of 45 miles. For 
fuel, the coal of Sarocino Caiion exists close to the line. 

From Rito to the " Romances " (30 miles), an abundance of 
large pine timber can be obtained from the spurs of the San 
Mateo, a wagon haul of 12 or 15 miles. Near the Remances it 
is but 4 miles distant in the Caiions. And from the Remances 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 4!) 

to Navajo Pass (44 milos), parallel with the Sierra Madre, the 
<;pl(Mi(liil forests of that range are only from 4 to 12 miles dis- 
tant. This timber is pine and spruce, of fine quality and appar- 
ently' inexhaustable. The whole of this range south, nearly to 
the route of the 32d parallel, is believed to be covered with u 
dense growth of large timber. In connection with the supply 
on the San Mateo spurs, it will furnish all the construction 
wants of the road as far west as the Little Colorado, and give it 
a large commercial traffic. 

On the << Zuiii Route," Miller's line ran through or closely 
adjacent to timber, from fort Wlngate nearly to Zuni village, a 
distance of 65 miles, wescof which cedar and pinon continued 
the supply for fuel purposes to Farewell llidge, 25 miles further. 

On the San Felipe line, Schuyler found pine abundant and 
large enough for ties, a few miles north and westof "Moquino," 
and a good growth of pine in the mountains, within 6 to 10 miles 
of Zia (14 miles from the Rio Grande), on the Jemez River. 
So that on this route the timber supply begins much nearer the 
Rio Grande than on the Isleta line. At San Felipe an abun- 
dance of timber can be got by floating it down the Jemez or 
Rio Grande during the high water of early summer. 

On or near the proposed line of the road north of San Mateo 
mountain good pine timber is abundant. West of the Sierra 
Madre along Navajo Creek, there is enough pinon and cedar for 
fuel — though it will not be needed for that use, as coal will be 
used. Railroad construction timber will have to be brought 
from the slopes and gorges of the Sierra Madre. 

Between Fort Union and the Rio Grande, one hundred and 
forty miles, the route is well timbered, the supply being either 
directly upon or within easy access of the proposed railroad. 
It approaches to within fifteen miles of the Rio Grande inTijeras 
caaon, and in the Placer and Sandia Mountains it occurs in the 
greatest abundance, extending south the whole extent of the 
Organ ^Mountains. The timber — pine, spruce, oak and cedar — 
is of fine quality, and would furnish a fine traffic for the railway. 

On the Galisteo route for fifty miles there is no timber fit for 
construction purposes, though there is enough cedar and pifion 
for fuel if wanted, but pine can be obtained in abundance from 
Caiion Blanco Pass, and from the Placer and Sandia mountains 
by hauling ten or fifteen miles — and would maintain the timber 

4 



50 brevoort's new mexico. 

supply to the road on that route nearly to the Eio Grande. In 
the Santa Fe mountains, 25 miles north of the valley of the 
Galisteo, the timber is of large size and abundant. 

If the line should follow the Rio Grande below San Felipe, 
timber can be obtained by floating it down the Jemez, at the 
proper season, and by hauling it from the Sandia mountains 
which bound the Rio Grande on the east, south of the Galisteo. 

On the whole, this route opens up a more extensive supply 
of timber than the Raton mountain line, and has, besides, the 
very great advantage of admitting, for most of its length, of the 
use of large streams for the economical transportation of timber 
to the points at which it may be required. 

In the valley of the Rio Grande, south of Alburquerque, the 
only timber consists of occasional scanty groves of cottonwood. 
There is timber in the Manzano or Organ Range on the east 
side of the river, and in the Magdalena mountains, ten miles 
west of Socorro. The Magdalena range bears thence southwest- 
ward, and contains large pine and pinoreal, and some other 
timber. 

The quality of the pine in New Mexico and Arizona is not 
always very good; but in the dry climate of this elevated plateau 
it will probably endure as long as the best varieties of wood in 
the Atlantic Slope, and will answer for bridging and all other 
purposes. The Douglas spruce of the Sandia mountain, Sierra 
Madre and Sierra Mogoyon is excellent. 

Timber can be floated down the Arkansas and also the Rio 
Grande with its tributaries, during the summer rise, from the 
mountain supplies to the points of crossing. The experience of 
the Union Pacific Railroad on the Laramie and other rivers in 
the Rocky Mountains upon their line, has demonstrated how 
readily and cheaply this can be done. 

The whole line is well supplied as well as with timber, with 
building stone, limestone, and so forth. East of the Rio Grande 
there is in Colorado the wood-colored sandstone of Fort Wallace, 
the quarry at Fort Lyon of excellent sandstone, and in New 
Mexico the eruptive rocks of the Raton mountains, good sand- 
stone and limestone thence to the Pecos river, other sandstone 
not so good in crossing the Canon Blanco summit, granite and 
limestone in the Sandia mountain range, and extensive deposits 
of limestone between it and the Placer mountain. Between the 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 51 

Rio Grande and the Rio Colorado occur the extensive sandstone 
beds which line the Rito valley; the superior Jemoz marble; 
the indestructible lava rocks, which are abundant all the way to 
the Sierra Madre, and will be very useful for many purposes of 
construction and especially for ballasting; the Rito gypsum, 
whose prepared material will be useful in bridging, lining of 
tanks, acoquias, etc.; the granite and carboniferous limestone of 
the Sierra INIadre; and the cretaceous sandstones between this 
range and the Mogoyon, which, although mostly unfitted for 
the purposes of railroad construction, yet, in the arid climate 
where they are mainly located, they will furnish an unlimited 
supply of cheap material, easily worked, and sufficiently durable 
for storehouses and stations for railways, and innumerable 
other uses on a large scale. 

The forest growth of timber is usually the "Rocky Mountain 
pine," which, from its durable quality, regularity of growth, 
and facility for working up into the different qualities of lum- 
ber, is probably the most valuable of any western pine. When 
growing singly this pine is apt to assume a branching shape, 
with an irregular oval outline; but, in extensive forests, it pre- 
sents a more uniform trunk, less knotty, and better suited for 
boards and dimension lumber. The interior wood, being to a 
considerable extent impregnated with resin, renders it durable 
and well adapted for railroad ties. This is the prevalent pine 
tree which is met with on all the elevated mountain slopes 
extending from the eastern Rocky mountains to the Sierra 
Nevada. 

Along the different lines of the surveyed railroad routes 
through southern Colorado and New Mexico, a very peculiar 
pine, very abundant in New Mexico, makes its appearance along 
the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, clothing the low, rocky 
ledges with patches of dark green, as seen in a distant view. 
This is the nut pine, or Pifloji of the natives, Pinus ediUis of 
botanists. It is generally of a low, branching habit, its short 
stocky trunk dividing near the surface of the ground into 
branching arms, giving it a globular outline. When growing 
in large bodies its straggling branches intertwine to form almost 
inextricable thickets. It is generally associated, at lower eleva- 
tions, with a cedar of a similar straggling habit, which further 
west gives place to the Arizona Juniper. These trees are all 



52 bkevookt's new Mexico. 

well adapted for fuel, burning when dry with a clear, intense 
flame, which is prolonged and steady, especially suited for steam 
purposes. In some sections the pinon presents a more upright 
growth, and has short, uniform trunks, suitable for railroad ties. 
The wood is durable but knotty, and with a twisted fibre, so 
that it is unfitted for other purposes of construction. 

The distribution of tlie pinon and cedar forests are particu- 
larly favorable for convenient supplies of railroad fuel, being 
scattered along the line of the route, easily accessible, and in 
inexhaustable amount, the range extending through New Mex- 
ico, northern Arizona, and to the eastern base of the Sierra 
Nevadas in California. 

The true pine belt of this interior portion of the continent 
ranges between six thousand and ten thousand feet above the 
sea; here it secures the needful moisture in the form of rain, 
dew, or winter snow, and is also naturally associated with the 
protruded granite rocks which form the central nucleus of the 
higher ridges. It would he difficult to conceive of a more conven- 
ient distribution of these pine forests for railroad construction or 
transportation, than that presented on the line of the S5th parallel. 
Intercepting first the high pine clad ridges of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, it skirts for some distance their eastern base, thus render- 
ing accessible the great bulk of timber products to supply the 
treeless wastes of the great plains; and by means of the passes 
leading to the valley of the Rio Grande, furnishes that exten- 
sive agricultural district with the material for building, bridging, 
and railroad construction. 

Still further in western New Mexico the high ridges of the 
Sierra Madre, while offering everything desired in the way of 
satisfactory railroad passes, presents on the higher adjoining 
ridges, including the elevated volcanic peaks of San Mateo 
mountain, a magnificent growth of untouched forests especially 
adapted to the supply of treeless districts to the east and west. 

The principal trees found in the mountain valleys of New 
Mexico, are the ash, walnut and hack berry, and on the moun- 
tains, pine, oak, cedar, pinoreal, and pinon. The principal tree 
of the deep valleys and stream margins is the cot ton wood, a 
brash tree, which will not make lumber, but is a beautiful shade 
tree, frequently found transplantedaroundresidences, and which 
answers most of the requirements for building and fencing. 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 



68 



The willow is common. It is much used by the. Jicarilla 
Apache Indians for making baskets, &c. 

The mesquite or serewbean tree becomes, particularly in the 
Gila river valley, a considerable tree. The wood has a fine 
grain, and resembles the black walnut. It is very durable 
wood, and as a fuel makes an intense heat, more so than any 
with which we are acquainted. Thesetrees emit vast quantities 
of a gum resembling and possessing similar qualities to the gum 
arable of commerce. The Apache Indians eat the mesquite 
bean, grinding it upon hand mills into flour, and the bread is 
very palatable. Horses fatten upon the beans. On the table 
lands is found a peculiar variety of the mesquite. It can hardly 
be called atree, beingrathera stunted, almost leafless shrub, grow- 
ing in the most barren places. In summer they are covered with 
l>eans. The mesquite tree has the most stupendous roots, 
though the tree above them often appears but a shrub. A patch 
of these presented to an observer is always but the visible part 
of a forest underground. Twelve feet square around one of 
these bushes will often yield by digging a cord of firewood. 
They are really the fuel-beds of a district, and nature has 
furnished in this way thousands of tons of fuel for the smelting 
of minerals. The roots, both dead and green, make most excel- 
lent fire-wood — burn entirely to ashes. The climate being arid, 
they never rot in the ground. The dead roots are a natural 
charcoal, and instances have occurred where burning them in a 
close room has produced death. 

The beargrass is common and abundant all over the mesas 
or table lands of New Mexico, and is very useful. In Mexico, 
gunny bags, rope, saddlers' and shoemakers' thread, are made 
from the fiber. During the blockade of the coasts in the late 
civil war, the manufacture of ropes of this plant was carried on 
in Texas. 

The soapweed, called in New Mexico by its Spanish name, 
amole, is another useful plant, and is very common. The natives 
prefer it to soap for washing woolen goods. It extracts all grease 
and restores the lustre of the goods. The lather makes the best 
shampoo. It is also an antidote for certain poisons. 

The maguey plant, known as the American aloe, and called 
by the Mexicans mescaly is common in all portions of the Terri- 
tory. In lower Mexico, where the plant is cultivated and is 



54 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

quite popular, the Mexicaus make from it a beverage they call 
pulque, and in the upper country, including New Mexico and 
Arizona, they make from it a very intoxicating brandy called 
mescal. The Indians, who cook and eat the heart of the plant, 
esteem it a great delicacy. 

Hops grow wild in the mountains all over the Territory, and 
are of a superior quality. 

Vegetables of all kinds do well, though potatoes, both sweet 
and Irish, failing in some portions, yield largely in other por- 
tions. In the valley in which the city of Santa Fe stands we 
have often heard it remarked that everything expected to grow 
and yield in that latitude and elevation does well there, with 
the sole exception of watermelons and potatoes. 

In passing down into the valley of the upper Rio Grande, 
says Dr. Parry, naturalist to the railroad route survey, we en- 
countered a flora very distinct in its general features, including 
a number of peculiar plants and strange, shrubbery, having a 
Mexican type. The river here, hemmed in along a great por- 
tion of its upper course by dark igneous and basaltic rocks, flows 
in deep inaccessible canons, which open out below into wide 
sandy basins. The San Luis Valley, lying above this caiioned 
portion of the valley, presents a wide alluvial basin, including 
extensive tracts of fertile soil lying along the course of the 
numerous tributary streams flowing down from the high moun- 
tain ridges on either side of the main valley. This section is 
particularly adapted to the growth of cereals and root crops, and 
in its cool atmosphere, abundance of grass and clear flowing 
water is eminently a dairy region. In these respects the two 
portions of the main valley, designated by the Mexican popu- 
lation as the Upper and Lower River, maintain the natural 
distinction in their products — the former being adapted to small 
grains, potatoes, butter and cheese, the latter to corn and fruits. 
In this condition of things an exchange of products would prove 
of mutual advantage, and afford profitable business in the way 
of transportation in both directions. 

The natural supply of fuel, for all this region, is furnished 
in the extensive forests of pinon and cedar, which occupy ad- 
joining rocky and barren ridges, while the higher mountain 
ranges will supply lumber and building material to any desired 
extent. 



MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 65 



The lower portion of the valley of the Rio Grande includes 
the district of New Mexico. Here we find the valley spread 
out into wide allu\*ial or sandy bottoms, bounded by bluffs of 
gravel and occasional rocky declivities capped with basalt. 
The flora here includes the plants referred to in Dr. Parry's list 
as New Mexican. Owing to the more porous nature of the soil, 
and the greater summer heat, the general aspect of vegetation 
is characterized as arid. There is a scarcity of tree growth, 
coutined to the cottonwood and willow, which occupy the moist 
bottoms or direct margins of the river. The grass of the valley 
is coarse and frequently saline, and on the adjoining uplands it is 
scant, though of a nutritious quality. The low bottom lands, 
susceptible of irrigation, are well adapted to the growth of corn, 
vines and peaches, being subject to irregular overflows, which, 
when moderate in extent, and occurring at the proper season, 
help to maintain the natural fertility of the soil, but are occa- 
sionally very destructive, in flooding growing crops, or under- 
mining and transporting large tracts of fertile soil, leaving in 
its place the coarse, sandy layers of the changeable river bed. 
At other points of the valley the prevalent westerly winds 
gather up the light drifting sands of the adjoining bluffs, and 
deposit them in changeable, ripple-marked dunes, on the fertile 
bottoms, thus consigning them to a hopeless sterility, as well as 
obstructing tlie ordinary roads by their deep sandy beds. Still 
further south, in the neighborhood of Socorro, sub-tropical 
shrubs, including Acacia, Mesquite and Larrea make their 
appearance, marking the northern limits of the Mexican flora. 

On the uplands west of the Rio Grande, near the 35th 
parallel, west longitude, we meet with a great variety of sur- 
face exposures. These are exhibited in extensive mesas, or 
table-lands, composed of light-colored porous sedimentary rocks, 
abounding with abrupt mural faces, valleys of erosion; these 
strata are interrupted at various points by igneous protrusions, 
and overflows of basalt and lava, serving to diversify in a 
remarkable manner the external features of scenery, and modify 
the texture and composition of the overlying soil. This is 
especially noticeable in the character of the native vegefcition, 
which is directly adapted to these variable conditions. Thus, 
on the dry uplands and mcMis we find a scattered growth of 
grama grass, interrupted with occasional growths of cedar and 



56 BREVOORT's new MEXICO. 

pinon. On the more elevated mountain ridges we meet with 
dense forests of Rocky Mountain pine, spruce and fir, inter- 
mingled in favorable locations with oak and aspen. The lower 
valleys, adapted to agriculture, support a growth of coarse grass 
and shrubbery, interrupted by occasional bare saline flats. In 
certain sections of this district deep cafioned valleys conceal from 
view clear running streams in which the vegetation is rank and 
luxuriant, while at other points the valleys expand into wide, 
grassy basins, where, during the dry season, running water dis- 
appears from the surface, or is exhibited only in brackish springs. 
This character of country comprises the once favorite home of the 
roving Navajo and Apache, and, in certain defensive positions, 
has been occupied since the earliest historic periods by the indus- 
trious and contented Pueblo Indians. It extends, with slight 
variations, through western New Mexico and northern Arizona, 
the surveyed rail route on the 35th parallel traversing the most 
desirable portions. Being passed over by the surveying parties 
during the late fall and winter months, only an imperfect view 
of its botanical features could be obtained, but the faded vestiges 
of floral beauty were nianifested on every hand to testify to the 
luxuriant richness of its summer dress. 

The list of plants Dr. Parry presented, is a contribution from 
one of the latest and most complete railroad surveys ever con- 
ducted on this continent, to our knowledge, of the natural vege- 
tation of the far West. Without aiming to be complete, it is at 
least sufiicient to show, that along the entire length of the rail- 
road survey, extending from Kansas through south-eastern 
Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, to the Pacific, there is an 
extent of habitable country which only needs to be made easily 
accessible from the populous districts of the Mississippi valley, 
and the western seaboard, to support and maintain a prosperous, 
civilized population. 

Thus it will be seen that one of the most noticeable 
features of the Territory is the amount of timber, which is 
found at numerous convenient distributing points. Whipple 
and Beale have dwelt especially on this feature, both pronounc- 
ing the proposed thirty-fifth parallel to be the best supplied of 
any route across the continent. The language of the geologist. 
Dr. Parry, may most fittingly sum up the case: 

'<It would be ditficult to conceive of a more convenient dis- 
tribution of these pine forests for railroad construction, or trans- 



AGRICULTURE. 57 



portation, than that presented on the line of the 3r)th parallel. 
Along the entire route, located at convenient distjinces for 
transportation, and directly availahle for the supply of adjoining 
treeless districts, is an abundant source of this necessary article, 
not only amply sufficient for all prospective needs of railroad 
construction, but also furnishing a material for profitable trans- 
portation to adjoining mineral and agricultural districts." 



AGRICULTURE. 

The productions of New Mexico, as might be inferred from 
the variety of its climate, are varied, but the staples will 
evidently be cattle, sheep, wool, and wine, for which it seems 
to be peculiarly adapted. The table-lands and mountain valleys 
are covered throughout with the nutritious grama and other 
grasses, which, on account of the dryness of the soil, cure upon 
the ground, and afTord affort an inexhaustible supply of food for 
flocks and herds both summer and winter. The ease and 
comparatively small costs with which they can be kept, the 
rapidity with which they increase, and exemption from epidemic 
diseases, added to the ftict that winter feeding is not required, 
must make the raising of stock and wool-growing a prominent 
business of the country. 

Wheat and oats grow throughout the Territory, but the 
former does not yield as heavily in the southern as in the 
northern part. If any method of watering the higher plateau 
is ever discovered, we think that it will produce heavier crops 
of wheat than the valley of the Rio Grande. 

Apples will grow from the Taos valley south; but peaches 
cannot be raised to any advantage north of Bernalillo in the 
central section, but it is likely they would do well along some 
of the tributaries and main valley of the Canadian river. They 
appear to grow well and produce fruit without irrigation in the 
Zufli country; and the valley of the Mimbres is also adapted to 
their culture. Apricots and plums grow wherever apples or 



58 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

peaches can be raised. I neglected to obtain any information in 
regard to pears, but, judging from the similarity of soil and 
climate here to that of Utah and California, where this fruit 
grows to perfection, I suppose that in the central and southern 
portions it would do well. The grape will probably be the chief, 
or at least the most profitable product of the soil. The soil and 
climate appear to be peculiarly adapted to its growth, and the 
probability is that as a grape-growing and wine-producing 
section it will be second only to California. 

We dififer from Professor Hayden in his opinion that Irish 
potatoes are inferior to those raised further north. Cabbages 
grow large and fine. Onions from the Raton mountains south 
have the finest flavor of any we ever tasted, and therefore are 
not surprised that Lieutenant Emory found the dishes at 
Bernalillo "all dressed with the everlasting onion." Sweet 
potatoes have been successfully tried in the vicinity of Fort 
Sumner, and along the head-waters of the Rio Bonito, and in 
many other localities. Melons, pumpkins, frijoles, etc., are 
raised in profusion in the lower valleys j and cotton was formerly 
grown in limited quantities. 

As a general thing, the mountains afford an abundance of 
pine for the supply of lumber and fuel to those sufficiently near 
to them. Some of the valleys have a limited amount of cotton- 
wood growing along them. In addition to pine, spruce and 
Cottonwood, the stunted cedar and mesquite, which is found over 
a large area, may be used for fuel. The east side of the 
Guadalupe range has an abundant supply of pine of large size. 
Around the head-waters of the Pecos is some excellent timber. 
Walnut and oaks are found in a few spots south, but in limited 
quantities, and of too small a size to be of much value. 

The arable land of a large portion of the country is admirably 
adapted to agriculture and to the culture of the grape. This is 
especially true of the valleys of the Rio Grande. Those 
experienced in the cultivation of the vine represent that all the 
conditions of the soil — humidity and temperature — are united 
in these regions to produce the grape in the greatest perfection. 
The soil, composed of the disintegrated matter of the older rocks 
and volcanic ashes, is light, porous and rich. The frosts in the 
winter are just sufficiently severe to destroy the insects without 
injuring the plant, and the rain seldom falls in the season the 



AGRICULTURE. 59 



plant is flowering, or when the fruit is coming into maturity, 
and liable to rot from exposure to humidity. As a consequence 
of these conditions of things, the fruit, when ripe, has a thin 
skin, scarcely any pulp, and is devoid of the musky tiiste usual 
with American grapes. 

Corn is raised to a great extent, and is a staple agricultural 
production of the Territory. Barley, wheat and oats do well. 
Irish potatoes do not grow well anywhere in the immediate val- 
ley of the Rio Grande, but very fine crops are produced in the 
mountains and in the mountain country generally. Beans do 
well, and are extensively cultivated — they are, Indeed, to the 
native what the potato is to the Irish. The onion, particularly 
in the valley of the Rio Grande, is also cultivated to a large 
extent, and in the locality named onions of a pound in weight 
are a common thing. Chile, or pod pepper, of excellent quality 
is raised everywhere, and extensively. It is said to excel in 
quality that raised anywhere in the States, on account of its 
mild nature, and is extensively used in cookery and as a stand- 
ard dish. 

From the Raton mountain to the Pecos river, near Anton 
Chico, 160 miles, says General Palmer, the numerous little val- 
leys watered by the tributaries of the Cimarron, Canadian and 
Pecos, which head in the mountains on the west, make the 
entire country productive and inhabitable. 

Irrigation only is necessary, and this is readily accomplished 
by proper appliances, as for instance, at Kroenig's, near Fort 
Union, where the waters of the Mora are led into a large artifi- 
cial lake, one-eighth of a mile in diameter, and 20 feet deep, 
which serves to keep under cultivation 2,500 acres, on which 
are raised excellent crops of all kinds of grain and vegetables 
(except potatoes.) The valley of the Mora is cultivated for 30 
miles above Kroenig's, and 13 miles below. Along the foot of 
this range (Spanish Range,) is a cordon of small Mexican settle- 
ments, which extend from the Raton mountain to the Pecos 
river, whose inhabitants cultivate the fertile valleys of the Dry 
Cimarron, the Vermejo, the Ponil, the Cimarron, the Ocatc, the 
Mora, the Gallinas, Spring Hollow, the Tecolote, the Pecos, and 
others. ^ to o 

Besides Las Vegas, which has a population of- fl ; O QO ) there 
are Anton Chico and 18 other towns in the valley of the Pecos 



60 



BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



alone, within 20 miles of the crossing point of the Atlantic and 
Pacific rfiilroad survey, which contain a population ranging trom 
200 to 1,000 each. 

This population, which lives entirely by raising sheep, cattle, 
horses, mules, and producing corn, wheat, oats, melons and 
vegetables, i e kep t in a state of constant alarm and uncertainty 
by the fears of incursions of the Navajos and Apaches, though 
the time for these fears, it is hoped and believed, is now passed 
and gone in New Mexico. 

In the valley of the Pecos, near Anton Chico, grapes, peaches, 
and other fruits are raised, and the valley is cultivable for 90 
miles below Fort Sumner, and wherever there is bottom land, 
for 90 miles above Anton Chico. 

The valley of the Rio Grande, for 200 miles north and south 
of Alburquerque, has an average width of five miles, and appears 
to be formed of a highly productive loam, frequently covered 
by a drift of sand, that does not, however, seem to affect its 
fertility. Everything grows luxuriantly in this soil by irri- 
gation — for which the water of the river is used cheaply and 
extensively. Wheat yields over 50 bushels, and corn 80 bushels 
to the acre, and the finest grapes are grown in the greatest 
abundance all along the valley, whose climate and soil are, 
without doubt, as specially adapted to the vine culture as the 
pasturage of the elevated mountain valleys and mesas or table- 
lands of New Mexico is to the cheap raising of good stock. 

Crossing the range at Puntia Pass (called also Punche Pass,) 
we enter the well watered San Luis Park, 5 to 40 miles in width, 
which produces all the smaller grains, besides having superior 
value for pasturage, excelling the best grazing lands of Texas. 

South of the San Luis Park are numerous branch valleys, the 
Taos, the Embudo, Caiiada Tesuque, the Chama, Ojo Caliente 
and others, which join the Rio Grande, and furnish in connection 
with the valley land immediately along that stream, between 
its cafions, a considerable sum total of arable district, filled with 
the small towns and settlements of unenterprising Mexicans 
and Pueblo Indians, but capable of supporting a large population 
of Anglo Saxons. 

Below the Santa Fe Caflon to Alburquerque, the Rio Grande 
has a bro id, fertile valley, such as has been heretofore described, 
occupied by cornfields, vineyards and orchards. 



AGRICULTURE. 61 



West of the upper Rio Grande and the San Luis Park, there 
is a tomptinfi^ field, which will be eventually penetrated from 
this line, the somewhat famous San Juan country and other 
districts, across to which the Cochetopa, Charaa and other passes 
lead, and which is now receivinga large mining and agricultural 
population. 

Of this section, from the Ilio Grande to the Colorado, on the 
route of the 35th parallel. Dr. Parry, naturalist, says: Sufficent 
is now known to characterize it as at least self-sustaining in an 
agricultural point of view, and capable of immense production 
for export of animal products from the proper development of 
its pastoral resources. A large section of this country is naturally 
adapted to fruit, of which the various surface exposures may be 
suited to different varieties. 

Whipple's rough estimate of the area of cultivable soil, wood- 
land and pasture on this division of the route ivithin 15 miles on 
each side, was as follows: 

Cultivable soil, 953 square miles. 

Woodland, 2,193 «' 

Prairie and pasture, 11,008 " 

Total, 14,154 " 

There was not as much known then of the country to the 
right and left of the line, and Gen. Palmer regards his estimate 
of cultivable soil as entirely too low; and of course a much 
wider belt thun 15 miles would be rendered accessible by the 
construction of a railroad — perhaps 100 miles on each side. 

But let us see what there is: 

1st. The table land between the Rio Grande and the Puerco 
— which is nine miles wide from crest to crest; it is covered 
with excellent grama grass, but without water. It makes a good 
sheep country. 

2d. Then ensues the north and south valley of the Puerco, 
three miles in width, whose soil is very rich and only requires 
irrigating, which can be done, as there is plenty of water in the 
channel for eight months of the year. Thirty miles alx)ve the 
mouth of El Rito the valley is one mile wide; the surveying 
parties found it covered with luxuriant grass, and the soil very 
fertile, a portion of which the Mexicans had under cultivation. 

3d. Thence we have the valley of the El Rito, which the 
line follows for 75 miles to the base of the Sierra Madre. It is 



62 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

from one-half to three miles wide — above Fort Wingate much 
wider — and there are several fertile intersecting valleys. 

It is cultivated for 4 miles below the town of El Rito by the 
Mexicans, and by the Acoma and Laguna Indians for 10 miles 
above Laguna, and at the foot of San Mateo mountain, near 
Cubero, by the Mexicans. The Indians raise 40 bushels of corn 
to the acre, with very rude cultivation. They also raise large 
herds of cattle. It might be tilled for its whole length, except 
in the six naile canon, if proper measures were taken to econo- 
mize the water, or to increase the supply by artesian wells. 

4th. Both slopes of the Sierra Madre are rich, and tolerably 
well watered. On the west side, north of EI Moro, Beale saw 
a country of " uncommon beauty," with numerous springs and 
water courses. 

Fifty miles west of the summit. Gen. Palmer's party found 
the Zuni Indians cultivating the soil extensively without irriga- 
tion, and having large crops of corn and wheat, while every 
house in the town was filled with dried peaches of excellent 
quality. Dr. Parry says of this Zuni valley: It possesses an in- 
exhaustible fertility, which it still maintains, after the lapse of 
centuries far beyond the historic period. This is at an elevation 
of 7,000 feet above the sea. We also saw these Indians driving 
up their flocks and herds, which were very large. 

The slopes of this range are far superior, in every way, to 
those of the Wasatch Range, which the Mormons have strewn 
for several hundred miles with a population amounting to 
100,000, converting that so-called desert into plantations and 
orchards. 

5th. In the valley of Navajo Creek we skirt the southern 
edge of the "Navajo country," where General Canby's troops 
in 1802-63 found immense herds of stock, and very numerous 
fields of corn and peach orchards, the driving off and des- 
truction of which were the only means by which these intelli- 
gent and warlike Indians were finally reduced. Colonel Willis, 
of the California Column, states that he assisted in destroying 
some of these corn fields as low down as the vicinity of Navajo 
Springs, and that the corn was as high as his head. Even in 
the dry country, near Jacob's Well, we saw traces of an ancient 
irrigating canal. 

6th. The valley of the Little Colorado is next reached, and 



AGRICULTURE. 63 



is followed by the line for from 25 to 60 miles, depending on 
the route adopted. In this distance it is from one to three miles 
wide, with a rich alluvial soil and plenty of water for irrigation. 
Grass in the valley excellent. The upper valley of this river, 
above the caiion,at the mouth of the Zuni, is said to be very 
beautiful, 50 miles long, and from 3 to 5 miles wide, and the 
Sierra Blanca country, in which it heads, is noted for its beauty 
and fertility, as well as for its attractive deposits of gold, which 
the Apaches have prevented all explorers from remaining long 
enough to develop. 

The numerous little sheltered cafLons leading into this river 
above and below Sunset Crossing, are especially adapted to fruit 
culture, also to wheat. There is a vast extent of attractive 
country in the heavily timbered Mogoyon mountains, south from 
this part of the surveyed route. 

7th. For the next 100 miles, in crossing the Mogoyon Range, 
we have the finest country met with, perhaps, on our entire 
route. It is the famous San Francisco Mountain country, mag- 
nificently timbered, well watered, and covered winter and 
summer with the most nutritious grama grass. Its soil, 
black and rich from the decomposition of the lava that has 
been ejected in immense quantities from the extinct crater of 
Mt. Agassiz, will produce, without irrigation, wheat, barley, 
oats and potatoes in the heaviest crops. The summit and slopes 
of this range, which lies partly in eastern Arizona, are dotted 
everywhere with beautiful little grassy parks, openings in the 
virgin forest of gigantic pines which cover the mountain. On 
all sides rise tall, volcanic peaks, emulating the central figure, 
Mount Agassiz, whose crown, far above the timber line, seemed 
to be just topped with snow, as late as the middle of December. 

This is the country of which Beale declares: It is the most 
beautiful region I ever remember to have seen in any part of 
the world. A vast forest of gigantic pines, intersected fre- 
quently by extensive open glades, sprinkled all over with 
mountain meadows, and wide savannahs, filled with the richest 
grasses, was traversed by our party for many successive days. 

And Dr. Parry says: We have in these elevated districts a 
climate favoring a growth of trees, a more equable distribution 
of rain and precipitiition of dew throughout the year, especially 
adapted to the production of nutritious grasses and the cultvation 



64 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

of grain without resorting to expensive processes of irriga- 
tion. These desirable climatic features are especially noticeable 
along the elevated slopes of the San Fiaucisco mountain, where 
magnificent pine slopes are agreeably interspersed with beautiful 
grassy valleys and parks, numerous springs, and a delightfully 
invigorating atmosphere. 

The most attractive place of summer resort on the line of 
the road is at Mt. Agassiz. It has every attraction; health, 
scenery, sky, water, elevation, climate, and proximity to the 
{greatest natural curiosity known on this continent — the << Grand 
Canon" of the Colorado River, from which it is distant some 40 
or 50 miles. 

8th. In descending the lower slope of the Mogoyon Bange on 
the west, we enter a drier and more sandy country, pretty well 
covered with thickets of cedar and piiion, to which the great 
pine forests give way. The soil, however, is rich, and only 
requires irrigation, which can be readily secured by damming 
the numerous canons with which this district is filled, and 
thereby preserving the supply of water, of which there is an 
infinite quantity in the spring (as also during the summer rains). 

The grazing is perhaps equally fine on this section, as higher 
up on the slopes of the Mogoyon mountains, in the beautiful 
region just described, the similarity of the country being pre- 
served, both in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona. 

General Palmer, in speaking of his survey of the 35th parallel 
railroad route through New Mexico, says : Thus, we pass from the 
middle state productions of Kansas, to the country of the vine 
and of semi-tropical fruits; from the bracing summits of the 
Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevadas and Mount Agassiz, to where 
winter is rarely known, in the valley of the Rio Grande, and 
never in the valley of the Colorado, to cotton and sugar in the 
latter, and oranges and pomegranates on the western foot-hills 
of the Sierra Nevada. It may be repeated that the value of 
the grazing, and of general agriculture, is greatly enhanced by 
the mildness of the climate. The grass is nearly as good in win- 
ter as in summer, and the animals of our surveying party were 
taken through and returned over the most elevated and moun- 
tainous part of the route, from October to May, finding every- 
where an abundance of the best grazing. 

But this remote country has been carelessly charged with being 



AQUICUTvTURE. 66 



a desertf and unfit for extensive settlement. It has been said 
tliat the western tide of emigration in the United States must 
stop somewhere in the vicinity of the 100th meridian, and make 
one leap across to the coast of California. Tliis was natural 
when the country was so little known. The question of its 
future capabilities, as deduced from a scientific view of its char- 
acteristics, is so ably treated by the geologist of the exj^edition, 
Dr. Parry, in his report, that it is scarcely necessary to add any- 
thing thereto. It may be pointed out, however, that it so hap- 
pens that nearly all the tribes of Indians on this route, the 
Navajos, Zunians, Moquis, IMojaves, and even the Piutes and 
Apaclies, to a greater or less extent, cultivate the soil. The Zuni 
Indians had plenty of corn and dried fruits to sell us as we 
passed their town. 

The country has looked with wonder on what has been done 
by the Mormons in Salt Lake Basin on the slopes of the Wahsatch 
Range. But the slopes of the Sierra Madre will, when this line 
crosses it, build up numerous larger settlements than those of 
Utah, within five years after the completion of the road; and 
the parks of Mt. Agassiz, to which the Mormons are already 
talking of emigrating from Southern Utah, Nvill, independently 
of any mining interest, attract and support a very large agri- 
cultural population. "We have, indeed, on this route, a contin- 
uous extent of comparatively elevated country, which atfords 
the moisture that makes the country inhabitable and attractive, 
and gives timber growth, and when the line descends it enters 
into great valleys with large streams, like the Rio Grande, the 
Great Colorado, Little Colorado and Tulare valleys. 

It should also be remembered, in connection with this ques- 
tion, that on a portion of this route, and accessible thereto, a 
considerable population already exists — 110,000 in New Mexico, 
probably over 1,000,000 in the northern states of Old Mexico, 
which will be supplied from this line, 50,000 in Colorado, with- 
out mentioning the smaller but energetic Indian-harrassed 
settlements of Arizona, and the rapidly increasing population of 
Southern California. The Santa Fe trade is already large, and 
even on the present basis, a railroad would find considerable 
business in supplying the wants of this population. 

The mere fact that mining can be carried on at all in New 
Mexico and Arizona, under all the discouragements of costly 

5 



y 



66 BREVOORT'S KEW MEXICO. 

transportation, Indian attacks, and remoteness from the con- 
veniences of life is, to the thinking mind, strong evidence that, 
witli these drawbacks removed, through the agency of a rail- 
road, the development of mining industry would be enlarged 
in an extraordinary degree. While only the larger and richer 
veins can now be profitably worked, when the cost of transpor- 
tation is reduced to one-fifth, and the risk to property and life 
removed by the settlement of the Indian* question, capital will 
find it advantageous to open up the smaller and less productive 
veins, and, as these are much more abundant and wide spread 
than the richer ones, the field of mining industry will thus at 
once be much more than proportionately enlarged. 

Along the whole valley of the Bio Grande, from El Paso 
northward to the latitude of Santa Fe, is to be found one of the 
best wine-growing districts in the world. The native wine of 
New Mexico is a very popular one among those who have tested 
it. It is exported from the Territory for sale in the states, and 
will in due time become widely sought after by the wine-drink- 
ing world. It is of this wine that the United States Surveyor 
General for New Mexico in his annual report for 1869 says: 
<< Yearly new vineyards are coming into bearing, counting their 
vines by the thousands, while the production of wine is annu- 
ally becoming more and more an article of commerce and profit. 
Between Bernalillo on the north and El Paso on the south, the 
traveller may find — and that often in great perfection — both the 
light white and red wines of the Bhine and Bordeaux, and as 
he goes south, the heavier Burgundy, port, sherry, and with 
age, even a good Madeira. With a grape acclimated by two 
hundred years' cultivation, unexcelled for richness and luscious- 
ness of flavor, always free from blight and diseaseof every kind, 
so destructive to European vineyards, so fatal to wine-growing 
on the Atlantic slope, and often so damaging even to California, 
with a soil as rich as that of the Nile, with abundance of water 
for irrigation, and with sunny days and dewless nights, increas- 
ing in strength as the summer heats increase, the wines of the 
Itio Grande promise to become as varied and as excellent as those 
of France and Spain.^^ 

The variable conditions of climate and soil necessarily deter- 
mine the character of agricultural capacity or adaptation for 
grazing. A certain degree of elevation in this medium latitude 



AGRICULTURE. 67 



of 35° is necessary to secure atmosplieric moisture, favorable to 
the growtli of trees or nutritious f^rasses. Districts tiius elevated 
are especially adapted to the growtli of small grain, while the 
lower alluvial valleys deriving their main supplies of water from 
these higher sources, are best suited to the growth of corn, 
fruits, and other staples recpiiring a higher temperature and 
longer growing season. Hence, the mountain districts and 
higher alluvial slopes present a well marked district adapted to 
the growth of timber, small grain and summer grazing, while 
the lower valleys supply farming lands suitable for corn, vine- 
yards and orchards, and offer desirable locations for permanent 
settlement. Over all this section of country, except the more 
arid tracts, the uplands are occupied with a peculiar growth of 
grasses and shrubbery, especially adapted to stock raising. The 
great variety of these different exposures, according to their 
elevation or geological structure, occasions a prominent differ- 
ence in tlieir relative capacity for supporting animal life. 

Thus certain desert tracts, on which, during the greater part 
of the year, no animal could live on account of absence of 
water, and scarcity of grass, during a short rainy season may be 
clothed with a verdure capable of sustaining immense herds. 
Again the lower valleys, which in the winter season afford shel- 
ter and pasturage for stock, which can be kept in go(>d condi- 
tion on the refuse of agricultural fields, become parched 
and oppressively warm in the summer season, so that the fresh 
pasturage of the high mountain ridges is preferable. Hence, 
successful stock raising in this central district will naturally be 
more or less of a roving character, and be carried on by a class 
of shepherds and herders adapted to the nomadic mode of life. 
When thus regulated, agricultural and pastoral pursuits profita- 
bly complement each other, and both unite to sustain the largest 
population, and yield the greatest amount of surplus products of 
which this section is capable. Sufficient is now known of the 
central section of country now under special consideration, to 
characterize it as at least self-sustaining in an agricultural point of 
view, and capable of immense production for export of aniifial pro- 
ducts, from the proper develpement of its pastoral resources. In 
the valley of the Colorado the semi-tropical character of the 
climate adapts it to the growtli of staple products jx'rtaining to 
warm countries, including especially cotton, hemp, tobacco, and 



68 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

sub-tropical fruits, while the mild winter seasons admit the suc- 
cessful growth of wheat, which may be harvested before the 
period of river overflow, to be succeeded the same season by a 
late maturing corn crop. A large section of this country is 
naturally adapted to fruit, of which the various surface expos- 
ures may be suited to different varieties. The cultivated grape 
has long been successfully raised in the alluvial bottoms of the 
Rio Grande, .and also seems particularly adapted to sections 
where volcanic rocks are exposed on the surface, the decompo- 
sition of which supplies a large proportion of potash, necessary 
to perfect the rich, vinous juices adapted to wine making. 
Peaches are extensively raised by the Pueblo Indians in the 
sheltered valleys and cailons of the district they inhabit, where, 
without any special care or resort to irrigation, they produce 
abundantly and attain a great age. The native fruits, including 
especially the Cacti, have an agreeably acid flavor, and might 
by cultivation be so improved as to add an imj)ortant item to the 
wholesome diet of this region. They are already much used and 
esteemed in Sonora, Sinaloa, etc. 



STOCK-RAISING IN NEW MEXICO. 

For the profitable raising of horses, mules, cattle, goats and 
sheep, on the most extensive scale, no portion of the u-orld can 
rival this district. Its mild climate presents no rigors, while 
its mountain slopes, valleys, and plains are unlimited ranges of 
excellent pasturage. The grasses of the plains and mountain 
slopes are not the least of nature's wonder. The "grama" and 
<<mezquite" varieties have a peculiar tenacity to life, and 
survive a succession of dry seasons, and, when aparently dead, 
a few showers will bring them out in full freshness; indeed, it 
is said, they change from a single shower. These grasses are 
sweet and nutritious, dry or green, and cattle thrive upon them 
and fatten. They cure in the dry season, in the stalks, making 
a natural hay. 



STOCK RAISING. 69 



About the year 1540, a small lot of Spanish Moriiio ishocp 
wore introcluced into this country from Spain, and from this 
importation the present sheep, owned mainly by our Mexican 
citizens and the Pueblo and Nav^ajo Indians, wore derived. 
Owing to the constant '< breeding in" without much change in 
the stock, or attempts at improvement, these sheep have degen- 
erated and decreased in size and quality of wool; yet in various 
respects the mutton and wool of New Mexico is better than 
that of the States; this arises from the fact that the climate and 
grasses are adapted to this cUiss of animals and it shows the 
advantage of this country over other portions of our land for the 
rearing of this kind of stock. At the commencement of the 
rebellion, sheep owners were raising their stock not for the 
wool, but for the meat, which was of better flavor, and more 
nutritious than the mutton of the States. The wool was allowed 
to go to waste and be dragged off the sheep's back while passing 
through the brush. It was thought that the prices of meat 
would decline at the close of the war, and some of our wise men 
in New Mexico now say, produce sheep and wool in the ratio 
you propose, and increase the quality and quantity of the meat, 
and you will reduce the price so that it will not pay to raise 
sheep in New Mexico, for this cannot be the case for many 
years to come. The demand for long wool both in Europe and 
in this country (for it is evident that in England the supply of 
combing wools is not sufficient for the demand), will make 
combing wools an article which will be a source of wealth to the 
producer for many years yet in the future. 

Our shores are swarming, and for years will swarm as never 
I)ofore, with foreign immigrants, hungry for meat, however 
poverty may have stinted their former supply. All these 
mouths, and those of millions unborn, are to be supplied in the 
years of the immediate future. With what shall we feed them? 
Not with pork, becoming vastly dearer with the increased price j 
of corn; not altogether with beef, while there is such a demand j 
for wool, and just precisely the kind of wool produced by ; 
mutton sheep. We must have mutton; and sensil)lc men with 
money in their pockets will pay prices that must command good 
mutton, and render its production higly profitable. Conditions i 
now exist favoring adequate remuneration in this branch of 
husbandry that have never before been brought together in so ] 



70 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

potent a combination in New Mexico. Tliere is an opportunity 
to acliieve a fame and a success in tliis direction in a field as yet 
almost entirely new, that should engage the effort, capital and 
ambition of the enterprising; and there is little doubt that 
it will be promptly and successfully occupied by strangers, if our 
own citizens do not avail themselves of the opportunity. 

Those, therefore, who now commence with judgment and 
energy the production of real superior mutton and combing 
wools in New Mexico, will reap an abundant harvest of profit, 
and the em'lier the start, the quicker the reward, and that it will 
engage the attention of enterprising people, and meet their just 
expectations there is no room for doubt. 

The peculiar suitability of the country to the raising of the 
various kinds of stock, will in future years make New Mexico 
a country whence large supplies of meat for food, and wools for 
manufacturing clothing, will be derived, and which will be a 
great source of wealth to our citizens, while it will furnish 
healthy food for the dwellers in our large cities east of the 
Territory. 

The natural configuration of this vast Rocky Mountain region 
is not the least of the many desirable advantages it presents. 
It is situated many thousand feet above tide water, fanned by 
the purest atmosphere, and supplied with innumerable salubrious 
streams running from the mountain springs, and furnishing pure 
water, one of the essential elements for the sustenance of both 
man and beast. This country having a high and dry range, so 
conducive to the health of all animals, especially sheej), which 
animal, if properly reared and improved, will prove a greater 
source of wealth than even our untold and vast mineral deposits. 
The one we have in the earth — the means of producing the 
other we have on the earth. The succession of movintain and 
valley affords the most ample defence against the heat of 
summer, as well as the bleak winds of winter; artificial pro- 
tection indispensable at the north and necessary in many of the 
states of the Union, which is so apt to induce disease by which 
whole fiocks and herds are sometimes lost, are rendered unnec- 
essary in our more favored country, New Mexico. Our mesas 
and mountain gorges, and many portions of our valleys, are 
most prolific in a variety of herbage suitable for all classes of 
animals, but especially adapted to sheep, and during winter 



STOCK RAISING. 71 



tliey afford a supply of pasturaj^e so abundant that no additional 
food is required. The animals can have access to a continuous 
supply of good food and pure water during the winter, and by a 
judicious management the only expense of rearing sheep and 
cattle in this country is the hire of herders, which is compara- 
tively a trifle. 

The constant supply of proper food by which the secretory 
powers are retained in full action and uninterrupted increase of 
meat and fat in animals, and of growth of wool on sheep, is 
promoted; while cases of constipation, and various diseases 
frequently fatal in the states by reason of sudden changes of 
food, are unknown here; there is scarcely a day in the year in 
which cattle and sheep cannot find here sufficient food of a 
proper kind to keep their digestive organs in a healthy con- 
dition. The soil in our mountain regions is generally good, 
and it is by no means uncommon to find it fertile and producing 
grama grass even to the tops of the mountains; and althougli 
there are to be found considerable bodies of thin soil, yet even 
are these more disposed, to the production of grass than lands of 
a better quality in the state;?. My experience, remarks Governor 
Arny, for over thirty-five years in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and 
Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico corroborate, what is well 
known to all sheep raisers, that, when lands are freely pastured 
by sheep, their capacity for producing grass is much assisted, as 
by close grazing the more useless grasses, briars, etc., are sub- 
dued, and the desirable descriptions allowed to strengthen their 
hold; this, together with the tramping of the land and the 
droppings of the sheep, induces a more prolific growth of good 
grass. 

" In my travels over a large expanse of country within the 
limits of New Mexico and the eastern borders of Arizona," con- 
tinues Governor Arny, "I have found growing wild clover, and 
several varieties of grass which indicate that they can be pro- 
duced in this country by cultivation. It is only a question of 
time and the construction of railroads when this country, in 
addition to its native grasses, which may be greatly increased, 
will have large meadows and pasture grounds of cultivated 
grasses, and it has been for nearly forty years a favorite theory 
of mine, confirmed by my practical observation, that so far as 
the quality and relative coarseness and fineness of wool is con- 



72 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

cerned, more depends upon the character of the grass than upon 
any one other thing, except it may be the constant change of the 
breeding animals. A stock raiser may determine by a judicious 
selection of his breed, and the character of the grass he allows 
them to use for food, the quality and quantity of the wool his 
flock of sheep will produce, and of course the quality of his wool 
will regulate the price he will get in the market, and determine 
the profit arising from the investment of his capital. This is 
especially so in regard to sheep, but is also to a great extent 
applicable to horses, cattle, goats and hogs." 

Referring to Governor Amy's remark about wild clover, we 
may mention that this excellent feed for animals is not only 
found here wild, but when cultivated yields in extraordinary 
abundance; and alfalfa, or Mexican clover, is raised throughout 
the Territory, yielding in the southern portion as many as five 
cuttings a season, and at the altitude of Santa Fe, near 7000 feet, 
three and four cuttings are produced. Though alfalfa is exten- 
sively cultivated and sought after on the Pacific Coast, it is not 
so here, owing to our extensive and su^jerior pasturages, and is 
in New Mexico cultivated as yet only in small patches for the 
use of farm animals. 

The report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
for 1868, says of New Mexico: — 

Grass abounds in every portion of this Territory, and even 
in the forests grows luxuriantly the entire year. At great alti- 
tudes this grass is in winter-time covered with snow, though 
not deadened to the ground, for, as soon as the snow melts, it 
affords excellent grazing upon the mesas (table lands,) and through 
the valleys grows the justly celebrated grama grass, which is 
cured as it stands, affording abundant food for flocks and herds 
throughout the winter. * * * * * * 

The facilities and cheapness of raising sheep and goats, ap- 
plies equally well to the raising of horses and cattle, and, when 
fully protected from Indicin depredations, and convenient trans- 
portation is afforded to the markets of the east by the construc- 
tion of railroads, the hills and mountains will be literally cov- 
ered with flocks and herds. 

No department connected with the breeding of domestic 
animals in New Mexico has received so little attention as the 
production of first class horses. While we have in the Territory 



STOCK RAISING. 73 



all kinds of horseflesh, and some very hardy and sph-ndid rld- 
injr animals, derivoil from California and the wild native ponies 
of the eountry, ^^broiicox^^ and "mustangs," we have scarcely 
any tliorougli bred or blood horses, and very little is known by 
our farmers in regard to the improvement of our horses. 

The "native stock" of our cattle woukl be much improved 
by the introduction for beef or the dairy of the short horn Dur- 
hams, Ayrshire, Devons, Herefords, and Jersey or Channel 
Island cattle. The short horns are generally the greatest favor- 
ites for beef from their large size and early maturity, though 
not making so fine beef as the Devons or Herefords. Those of 
our people who wish to improve their stock of cattle would do 
well to procure the several volumes of the American Herd Book, 
and actjuaint themselves with the best animals to improve our 
native breeds. 

A correspondent of the Sanfa Fe New 3Iexican, writing re- 
cently on the subject of sheep and sheep raising, states as follows 
for the information of numerous persons in Colorado and east- 
ern Stiites, who had been writing out to New Mexico for reliable 
data on the subject : — 

" The best native ewes can be bought for two dollars a 
head in greenbacks, and delivered to purchaser within 75 or 80 
miles from here without additional charge. For a herd of 10,000 
sheep, five herders are necessary, two of them should be mounted 
by the owner of the herd, the others go on foot. The man in 
charge of herd (mayordomo) gets about $40, the others from §8 
to $11 and rations a month. The herd being always moving 
from one watering or grazing place to another, seldom stopping 
in the same camp two consecutive days, provisions in bulk (ex- 
cept fresh meat for which sheep from the herd are used,) are 
issued to the herders as often as convenient. The cost of one 
month's rations for one man is about $7. Six jackasses to carry 
the rations and camp outfit, which cost about $15 each, and the 
necessary arms and ammunition are furnished by the owner 
of the herd. An excellent breed of "shepherd dog" is used 
here. From 1st to loth November, the bucks are put among 
the ewes — then the number of herders should be inci eased 50 
per cent, for two months, to prevent their running during this 
the rutting season. From about the loth of April to the last of 
May, the lambing season, most importimt of all, herders should 



74 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

be increased to five for every one thousand head of ewes, or fifty 
men for the herd, these extra herders to be kept about six weeks, 
and are usually paid the same or possibly a little more per month 
than the regular herders are, and can always be hired from the 
settlements. About 1500 bucks are necessary for the 10,000 
ewes; they cost about $1.25 to $1.50 a head. Some of our more 
intelligent sheep owners are now bringing Cots wold and other 
fine blooded bucks to improve the breed. Average increase in 
live sheep at the end of the year from 75 to 80 per cent. Two 
to three year old common Mexican mixed sheep, bucks and 
ewes, yield an average of one and a-half pounds of wool a 
year. This statement is made in a liberal spirit towards the 
sheep raiser, so that he will find on coming here, that while all 
the prices for cost and herding are full, the ratio of increase and 
weight of fleece is estimated rather low. The table lands and hill 
sides are abundantly supplied with a variety of nutritive grasses, 
which being cured by the operation of the climate, afi'ord ex- 
cellent pasturage throughout the year. The most valuable and 
widely distributed of these is the grama grass, its peculiar value 
consisting in its adaptation to all the requirements of an arid 
climate. It grows during the rainy season and ripens a large 
quantity of seed as the dry season approaches, while the leaf 
and stem retain most of their nutritive qualities in drying, form- 
ing superior feed for sheep during the entire season. The herds- 
men and shepherds of New Mexico being thus furnished with 
natural pasturage through the winter months, have a great ad- 
vantage over the sheepraiser of the northern and southern states, 
who are obliged to expend much of their time and labor in the 
preparation of food to sustain their sheep during the winter 
months, nor is any shelter necessary. The immense range 
afforded by the extensive pastures of New Mexico has a Very 
beneficial effect on the health of sheep, the diseases common to 
miany localities are here almost unknown." 

A very large proportion of the present stock of sheep of New 
Mexico are the descendants of the Spanish Merino of other 
days. The ewes are small, weighing about 33 pounds average, 
with coarse wool, but celebrated as remarkable breeders, hardy 
and healthy the year round, and adapted to breed or cross with 
the imported Cotswold and Merino bucks, as has been proven 
by actual experiment during the past few years. The former 



STOCK RAISING. 75 



are purchased in the Territory at an averajT^e price of $2 per 
head for breeding- purposes, in the months of August, September, 
October and November. When bought with himb running, or 
pregnant, SI per head extra is charged usually. Wethers, for mut- 
ton U to 3'ears old, mixed lots and ages, $1.25 to^l.T") per head; 
imported Canada bucks, $30 each; Spanish ewes, purchased in 
Chihuahua, and on Mexican soil, 400 to GOO miles distant, can 
be had, duty (20 per cent.) paid, for $1.10 to Sl.Go pvr head in 
specie, including expense of driving, which must 'be done by 
experienced parties. 

Regarding cattle, large numbers of mixed grades are driven 
yearly from Texas, following up the Pecos river, when reached, 
to a point 120 to 200 miles from Santa F^', where the stock is 
rested and grazed, usually until the middle of, and sometimes 
until after the rainy season, when, as a general thing, the herds 
begin to move towards Colorado and a market. During the in- 
terval of resting, the herds accumulate, and prices range as fol- 
lows: yearlings, $5 to $7; twos, $9 to $11; threes and cows, $13 
to $15; bullocks, 4 years old and upwards, $18 to $22. 

We have mountain, valley and extensive rolling prairie lands 
adapted for pastoral purposes. No hay, shelter or grain is pro- 
vided for stock, yet we can boast of as fine, fat beef and mutton 
as is pastoral-raised anywhere in the world. 

The Cimarron Neivs of this spring, in concluding an article 
on sheep grazing in New Mexico, remarks : 

* * * << In New Mexico the per centage of 

increase being commonly measured simply by the productive 
powers of the flocks. This brings us to say, that the preeminent 
advantages which New Mexico offers to wool growers are fast 
becoming known and appreciated. Within the last six months 
a large number of enterprisingmen from California have come 
here for the purpose of engaging in the sheep business, and 
from them we learn that there will soon be a large immigration 
from that quarter. The fact is the sheep ranges have become 
almost exhausted in many portions of that state. By excessive 
grazing the native grasses have been killed, while the price of 
land has become so great as to very materially reduce the profits 
of the business. In casting about for a new field of operations, 
these men have decided upon New Mexico as being in all 
respects superior to any other known region. The united testi- 



76 brevoort's new Mexico. 

mony of tliose men who come here is, that the mild climate, the 
excellence of the grasses, and the extended ranges which we pos- 
sess, render this country the most desirable location in the United 
States for their business. We may expect to see many large flocks of 
fine sheep brought into this county during the coming season, 
and we welcome them as valuable additions to the production of 
the region. There is ample room for all who want to come. 
From the mountains to the Texas border there is one continuous 
and magnificent range, in any portion of which may be found 
water, shelter and grass. There is no doubt that a few years 
will see New Mexico the greatest wool producing state in the 
Union, and the present influx of enterprising Californians, 
having both capital and experience, will be an important factor 
in the achievement of that important result." 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRING-S, Etc. 

The great wealth of New Mexico, in the precious, as well as 
in many of the baser metals and stones, is every day becoming 
more and more an admitted fact. All intelligent observers of 
the mineral indications here concur in pronouncing them at 
least equal to those found in any of the great mining regions of 
the United States. << Undoubtedly the latent iind undeveloped 
mining resources, the lodes and placers of this Territory," re- 
ports the United States Surveyor General, << need but the appli- 
cation of capital and machinery to render New Mexico, on their 
account, the peer of either of the states and territories famous for 
their mineral deposits and coal fields." Hitherto the immense 
mineral wealth of the Territory has been allowed to lie compara- 
tively occult and dormant, for New Mexico has been allowed to 
remain the least known of the territories. Unlike some of her sisters, 
whose public men and whose local press have presented them to 
the world nolens volens, as the true El Dorado found at last, New 
Mexico has not in like manner sought or received attention, 
immigration and wealth. But now that the advent of railroads 
is near, now that her traditional red enemy has gone to his res- 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 77 

ervation, and now that the stream of emigration approaches, 
her day of empire dawns. • 

As the Territory has been as yet hut slightly prospected by 
the searcher for mines, and as those found remain in almost 
every instance undeveloped for want of capital and machinery, 
its resources in this great element of material wealth are com- 
paratively unknown, though they are not undoubted. Evidences 
of mines worked in ancient times by the Spaniards, who are 
aaid to have furnished from New Mexico large quantities of 
gold and silver, are frequently found in different portions of the 
Territory, and work been renewed upon them. We cannot 
now refer in detail to all the mining districts in the Territory, 
or the mines therein promising or yielding best, but we desire 
to demonstrate from what we know and state, that mining in 
New Mexico will ere long become a very prominent and import- 
ant industry of the country. 

The mines and placers and coal fields of the territory seem, 
from the discoveries made and from the indications, to exist 
scattered all over the country. Gold, silver, iron, quicksilver, 
marble, coal, building stone and precious stones — indeed nearly 
all the known metals and other productions of the ground, 
which contribute to the use and pleasure and wealth of men — 
appear to exist in New Mexico. 

The Commissioner of the General Land Office in his annual 
report for 1868, says of our mineral resources, that valuable min- 
erals are found in every portion of New Mexico. In numerous 
localities may now be seen shafts and drifts, the work of former 
generations, and the only monuments left of their energy, 
activity and industry, while the almost dailij discovery of new 
lodes of gold and silver bearing quartz and auriferous placers indi- 
cate that mining operations in the future will be as productive 
as in the past. New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Southern 
California present an area of productive soil and genial climate 
that promises under the stimulus of railway communication to 
attract and support a large industrial population. Both the 
agricultural and mineral resources of these regions are on a 
magnificent scale. 

The present United States Surveyor General for New Mexico, 
in a recently published letter to the General Land Office at 
Washington, says of the Territory: I have travelled to Fort 



78 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

Bascom on the Canadian river near the Texan frontier, a round 
trip of .about three hundred and fifty miles, and to Fort Craig, 
down the valley of the Rio Grande, another journey of about 
the same extent. I made these trips mainly that I might learn 
something of the characteristics of the district and its people 
from personal observation. Including the route from the terri- 
torial boundary near Trinidad, Colorado, to this city, my travels 
in the district amount to above one thousand miles; and I am 
satisfied that this Territory deserves better and more liberal 
treatment than it has ever received; it appears to be misrepre- 
sented, and generally friendless and forlorn, but it has immense 
LATENT resources. I belicve it has more gold, silver and coj^per 
than Colorado or Nevada, and there are also vast quantities of 
iron, lead, coal and other minerals, together with plenty of good 
timber. It has a most salubrious, mild and equable climate, and 
cannot be excelled for grazing purposes. All its fine valleys and 
almost endless plains are feeding grounds, covered the year 
through with nutritious grasses, and stock does not require to be 
housed at any time, the winters are so mild and stormless. 
Fruit, especially grapes, together with vegetables and grain, 
flourishes in all the valleys and wherever the land can be irri- 
gated. 

The congressional appropriation of 1868 for a geological sur- 
vey of Colorado and New Mexico being inadequate to secure a 
thorough one, the work of the geologist was necessarily brief 
and imperfect; yet in an examination of only a few days spent 
in New Mexico (no portion of which was given to the west side 
of the Rio Grande), he reports the following ^^ minerals of com- 
cial value,'''' and the localities where observed: — 

Iron Pyrites, Copper Pyrites — Mostly auriferous, widely dis- 
tributed in veins over the flanks of the Rocky Mountains in 
New Mexico, and in numerous lesser chains of granitic and 
metamorphic rocks. 

Malachite, green vitriol, blue vitriol — Principally from decom- 
positions of the above wherever the ores have been exposed to 
weathering. Widely distributed in veins over the flanks of the 
Rocky Mountains in New Mexico, and in numerous lesser chains 
of granitic and metamorphic rocks. 

Zineblende, often argentiferous — Sandia, etc. 

Galena, often argentiferous — Maxwell's, near Mora. 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, KTC. 79 

Brittle Silver — AFaxwell's, near Mora. 

Fahlerz — Maxwell's, near IVIora. 

Specular Iron Ore — Real Dolores, near Ortiz iiiino. 

Jied and Brown Jlcmafile — Widely distributed; Old Placer, 
etc. 

Magnetic Pyrites — New Placer. 

Coal — Raton mountains, Maxwell's, Real Dolores, etc. 

Cerussite — Maxwell's. 

Anglesite — Maxwell' s. 

Native Gold — Arroyo Hondo, Moreno, Brahm Lode, New 
Placer, etc. 

Native Silver — Maxwell's. 

Horn Silver — Maxwell's. 

Titanic Iron Ore — Real Dolores. 

Smithsonite — Sandia. 

Silver Glance — Moreno, New and Old Placers. 

Light and dark Ruby Silver — Maxwell's. 

Spathic and Micacious Iron Ores — Real Dolores. 

Turquoise — Cerrillos, between Santa Fe and San Lazaro 
mountains. 

The valuable ores abound, continues the geologist, almost 
everywhere in the granite and gneiss of the Rocky Mountains, 
and the economic question is not to find the material, but the 
capital and labor icith which to work. That the country over 
which these investigations were made is replete with those 
minerals which by their decomposition are found by experience 
to most enrich the soil, as it is with the before-mentioned 
minerals of commercial value. 

Gold is known to exist in over fifty different localities in the 
Territory. It and silver must have been known and extensively 
mined by the Aztecs, as the presence of their old ruins is said 
to be an almost unfailing indication of mines. The Spaniards 
mined gold, silver, and copper in this region, and Jesuit priests 
more thoroughly prospected it than it has been since. They 
reported at all points great riches, and the existence of all the 
precious metals. At the Placer Mountain, the Old and New 
Placer, quartz lodes have been opened since the war. 

At ]Moreno mines, at Ute Creek, and other tributaries of the 
Cimarron and Red river, large deposits of gold have been dis- 
covered and worked. The Commissioner of the General Land 



80 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

Office, in his report of 18G8, says of the Aztec mine at Cimarron: 

There has recently been received at this office a specimen of 
ore, consisting of a silicious deposit of exceedingly loose texture, 
through which are interspersed fibers of pure gold, some of 
which exceed two inches in length. It is claimed that an assay 
made at the Denver mint of a specimen of this ore, in which no 
gold was visible to the eye, yielded at the rate of $19,000 to the 
ton. The locality in which this specimen was obtained is on the 
headwaters of the creek, a branch of Cimarron river, and the 
existence of the deposit was hitherto unsuspected. 

The gold found in the gulches is shot-gold mostly. The 
specimens from the lodes are rich quartz, and the gold can be 
distinguished with the naked eye. This whole section is 
evidently abounding in gold. 

At Pinos Altos, quartz gold-mining has received considerable 
attention. Thirty lodes were discovered, paying from forty to 
two hundred dollars per ton. In this district two years ago 
thirty lodes of gold quartz were worked, ten of silver or a 
combination of silver and gold, and three of copper. There have 
been picked up in one day in a gulch at Pinos Altos ores of gold, 
silver, lead, zinc, magnetic iron, and plumbago. The number 
of mines now worked there has largely increased. 

Twenty seven miles from the City of Santa Fe is the Real de 
Dolores or old Placer, discovered in the year 1833, and from that 
up to 1840 it contained a population varying from 2000 to 3000 
persons, the most of whom were engaged in washing out gold, 
laboring under great disadvantage on account of the scarcity of 
water, it being necessary to carry the dirt to the water, a dis- 
tance of nearly two miles, or pack water in kegs and barrels to 
the dirt; there were at one time some dozen or more stores 
there with merchandise; the amount of gold taken out by this 
rude process is variously estimated from $300,000 to $500,000 
yearly. Many rich gold-bearing quartz lodes were discovered, 
but owing to the want of water and proper machinery were not 
worked to any extent. 

The Real de San Francisco, ten miles south of Real de 
Dolores, was discovered in 1840, and was considered much richer 
than that of Dolores, and was worked about six years, the miners 
laboring under the same difficulties as to water, as occurred at the 
Dolores; there were over 5,000 people at this place at one time. 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 81 

and it is stated by reliable parties wlio were there at the time 
engnged in trading, mining etc., that the diggings yielded 
upward of a half million of dollars yearly, the gold being of the 
finest quality. 

Thousands of persons could here find profitable employment, 
with a sufficiency of water, and millions of dollars uncovered. 
A very large proportion of the earth of those placers was never 
touched or worked. The bulk of these placers are private 
property, covered by confirmed and surveyed grants, and invite 
the attention of capitalists, who must some day reap large paying 
results, and give employment to large numbers of miners. 

At the commencement of the war a placer had been discovered 
in the Jicarilla mountains in Lincoln county, where some 300 
miners, chiefly Mexicans, were at work, and doing well. Other 
companies were about to commence operations on the silver 
lodes of the Organ mountains. The Stephenson company had 
shipped a lot of machinery and material to work extensively the 
Stephenson silver mines. These reached their destination the 
very week hostilities commenced on the frontier. The mine, 
now called the San Agustin, is being worked. 

In 1802 a large number of persons entered the San Juaa 
region on account of the gold excitement. They built a town on 
the Rio de las Animas, and named it Las Animas, which they 
were compelled to abandon, the houses- now remaining unoccu- 
pied, unless, as is probable, the town is lately reestablished. 
Many of them returned to the settlements in a starving con- 
dition, although gold and silver was found in the mountains, 
and on all the streams tributary to the San Juan river. The 
mineral wealth of the San Juan country is again attracting 
attention, and that region is now rapidly filling with miners and 
settlers. 

The mining district near the Mesilla valley, in the Organ 
mountains, has a mean altitude of 4,400 feet, and is intersected 
with ravines, affording most favorable opportunities for hori- 
zontal drifts in opening the veins. There is a belt or seiies of 
veins containing six principal veins, varying from two to fifteen 
feet in width. On the largest of these veins is the celel)rated 
San Agustin mine. This belt of veins crosses the Organ 
mountain at or near the San Agustin pass, and both sides of the 
chain of mountains present similar features and equal richness. 

6 



82 BKEVOOET'S new MEXICO. 

The celebrated mine just mentioned was formerly known as the 
Stephenson silver mine, and the claimants of it under this name 
are now in litigation with those who during the war "denounced" 
it, and now claim it under the name San Agustin. The whole 
Organ mountains are extremely rich in silver. Over fifty mines 
have been discovered therein, the ore being generally argentif- 
erous galena, admitting of simple reduction by smelting, the 
mines paying from $40 to $200 per ton. 

The country bordering on the north portion of Chihuahua is 
a rich silver district. Just over our line are the mines of 
" Corralitos," the most successful mines in the state of Chihua. 
hua. They have been mined for nearly fifty years. Their 
productiveness has overcome all obstacles, and the mines have 
erqployed annually several hundred hands. 

Near the old town of El Paso tradition places the locality of one 
of the richest silver mines of those formerly known to the Span- 
iards. Its site had been lost since the expulsion of the Jesuits 
until last year. It is said that the Jesuits of Northern Mexico 
were the last to suffer the decree of expulsion, and had sufficient 
notice of the edict, and carefully covered up the traces of the 
mining there. lu this way the localities of many of the richest 
mines of New Mexico have been lost. As the section in which 
this remarkable old mine is situated is a portion of the mineral- 
bearing mountain system of New Mexico, we will here give a 
condensed account of the mine and its history. The locality 
and history of the mine, called the Mina del Padre, having been 
gathered from the old church records at El Paso, several gen- 
tlemen there determined to re-open it, which they did in the 
winter of 1872-'3. The year 1680 was the year the mine was 
discovered by the monks of the order of Saint Francis, in charge 
of the church at El Paso; the same year the Sixmiards under 
Governor and Cai)tain General Otermin were all expelled from 
New Mexico by the Pueblo Indians. Skilled in the science of 
mineralogy, they were not slow to discover the extraordinary 
richness of the Padre vein, and their knowledge of the art of 
metallurgy enabled them to work it very profitably for many 
years. From the silver obtained from this mine, most of the 
churches in northern Chihuahua were enriched and endowed. 
The Jesuits were never friendly to the Franciscans, and when 
in the early part of the eighteenth century, the order of Jesuits 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 83 

obtainerl complete control iiif Spain, it was not long ere the bare- 
footed Franciscans were ordered to depart from Mexico, and 
surrender their rich i)ossos.sions to tlie dominant Jesuits. AVhen 
information of the coming change reached tlie monks at El Paso, 
they quietly covered the mine, and obliterated as near as pos- 
sible all traces of its existence. Years passed on, the Jesuits, if 
they had learned the secret of the silver treasure, never availed 
themselves of it. In 1792 the mine was again opened, and 
worked for several years by a company of Mexican gentlemen. 
The works for the reduction of the ores were situated near the 
river banks of the Rio del Norte or Rio Grande. The revolution 
of 1810, followed by the declaration and establishment of Mexican 
independence, again interrupted the working of the mine, and 
it was a second time filled up and abandoned, and so remained 
until the late re-discovery and re-opening. This was done at 
considerable trouble and expense. A shaft was sunk ninety feet 
through the material which had been used to fill up the mine, 
and which, from lapse of time, had become almost as firmly 
cemented together as the original soil. Although the main lode 
is not yet reached, the ores that have been taken out during 
the progress of excavation prove to be unusually rich. Soon 
after it was opened a gentleman arrived upon the ground who 
had come from California expressly to search for this very mine, 
having obtained there some clue to its value and its locality. 
He was not aware that similar data had been obtained at El 
Paso, and he was just in time to be too lace. The mine is situ- 
ated at the southern point of the Organ mountains, here about 
1 .500 feet high, two and a half miles from the City of El Paso, 
and is a lode or vein of black chloride of silver, containing 
sulphurets, the out cropping about forty feet wide. This im- 
mense lode, or vein, runs north and south, dipping to the west 
at an angle of 45°. The silver lode lays in a bod of old red sand- 
stone, and the overlying face rock is igneous, with traces of iron 
in it. There can be no doubt that this lode is extremely rich, 
and immensely valuable. 

West from the Mesilla Valley, tlie principal towns in which 
are Mesilla, Las Cruces and Dona Ana, is the new and very 
flourishing mining town of Silver City. The mines were dis- 
covered in the locality in tlie spring of 1S70; and since then 
Silver City has been founded, and now h£\sa population of nearly 



84 brevoort's new Mexico. 

fifteen hundred, the town containing, "besides miners and mining 
establishments, lawyers, physicians, preachers, editors and so 
forth, and churches, schoolhouses, printing offices and mercan- 
tile houses; some of the most handsome brick dwellings too, be- 
ing found there. Most of the mines opened and worked in that 
section well sustain their reputation. Governor Arny, two years 
ago, obtained specimens from upwards of sixty different mines 
and lodes in that section- On the Mimbres river, in the same 
section of country, or near that stream, is an extensive gold 
placer, which was formerly worked by the Mexicans in a very 
rude fashion, and yielded well, thdugh they had to carry the 
dirt to the water; whether worked or not we are not 
aware. A canal to convey water a few miles in length at 
this point, would develop an extraordinarily rich gold deposit. 

On the headquarters of the Klo Gila, in New Mexico, and on 
its tributary, the Rio San Francisco, in Arizona, discoveries of 
gold, silver, copper and quicksilver have been made; the gold 
prospecting in the bed of the stream from one cent to one hun- 
dred cents to the washing pan. It was in this region where the 
Indians procured the gold to make the bullets which the explo- 
rer Aubrey, twenty years ago, found in use among the wild 
Apaches there.* Placers of gold are found throughout the moun- 
tains along those streams; but for the present the lack of water 
necessarily renders them unavailing, comparatively. 

Accessible to the Rio Grande, south of Alburquerque, lying 
in the mountain ranges which bound the valley on either side, 
for nearly its entire length, are extensive deposits of mineral 
tvealth, ivaiting for the capital, skill and labor to develop them. 
This development, but just started, will begin in earnest as soon 
as the railroad reaches Alburquerque, but will be greatly accel- 
erated by the construction of the proposed branch down this 
valley to El Paso and on to Chihuahua. These may be briefly 
itemized as follows: 

1. In the range east of the Rio Grande, known in ditferent 
parts of its course as the Manzano, Jicarilla and Organ moun- 



■•' In his report of meeting the Indians with gohlen bullets, Mr. Aubrey says: 
" They are of different sizes, and each Indian.has a pouch of them. We saw an 
Indian load his gun with one large and three small golil bullets to shoot a rab- 
bit. They proposed exchanging them for lead, but I preferred trading other 
articles. 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 85 

tains, but called generally in connection with the Sandia moun- 
tain, the << Organ Range," are found veins of silver and copper 
(many of which were formerly worked by the Spaniards,) 
almost wherever it has been explored. This range lies from 18 
to 25 miles from the river. 

2. On the same side of the Rio Grande, north of Fort Craig, 
occur the excellent coal mines of Don Pedro, and veins of 
copper, galena and iron ore. 

3. On the east side of the river is a range formed of spurs 
from the Sierra ]Madre, which are called at different points, the 
Mimbres, MagdaleTia, Ladrones, San Mateo, and (north of 
Alburquerque) the Jemez and Abiquia mountains. In this 
range, whose north and south extent is over 250 miles, rich lodes 
of copper are numerous. It is found at certain localities almost . 
in a pure state, and at others combined with gold and silver. 
There are two copper mines at Jemez — one large, of virgin ore, i 
and heretofore extensively worked. There is a large mine in ; 
the Magdalena mountain, west of Socorro, of copper, with a [ 
large percentage of silver, new developments of which within ' 
the last several months are exceedingly promising. Recently 
also, within the Magdalena mountain section, mines of other I 
metals have been discovered, and some of them opened and 
worked, and the reports from them show that they are valuable, 
and that Spring Hill mining district, embracing them, will, I 
in due time, become one of the most productive in the Terri- \ 
tory. j 

Upon, or accessible to the surveyed route of the 35th parallel 
railway, west of the Rio Grande, there are, | 

1. The deposits of coal in the valleys of the Puerco, the j 
Rito, the Jemez, and north of the San Mateo mountain. 

2. A fine marble quarry, on the Rio Salado, a branch of ] 
the Jemez, about 25 miles west of the Rio Grande. Mr. IIol- 
brook, civil engineer, reports the quality equal to that of the cele- I 
brated Rutland quarricji, and that the deposit is vei-y large and | 
accessible. <<Large quantities of gypsum were seen near this : 
point, and also on the Jemez, south of the juncticm of the , 
Salado, where our party saw more marble." 

3. Near Jemez, about 30 miles west of the Rio Grande, was 
recently found serpentine of great beauty, easily quarried, in any 
sized blocks. 



86 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

4. Very extensive beds of gypsum immediately adjoin tlie 
railroad survey line near llito, 40 miles wes-^t of Alburquerque. 
They are reported by the geologist to be of a very x>ure quality, 
lying in regular strata, presenting a continuous bluff 80 to 100 
feet thick. They are amorphous and fibrous. The value of this 
material in its crude form as a fertilizer is well known, and may 
eventually give rise to an extensive demand fo7' distant transporta- 
tion. In other respects it will prove valuable in a prepared form, 
and can be extensively used in different processes of building, 
and in various other forms. 

Saltpeter is common, but is rarely found pure. At one place 
near the international boundary line, it is found j^ure, near a 
spring where extensive deposits are made upon the clay, whence 
it is gathered in considerable quantities, mainly by the Mexicans 
Irom the city of Chihuahua, the locality being just within the 
Mexican territory. The state government of Chihuahua regu- 
lates by law its collection, and, in like manner attempts the pro- 
hibition of its exportation. 

In New Mexico plumbago has been found in many localities. 
Zinc is found in the Sierra Madre, in the Sandia mountain and 
in the San Juan country. We do not remember to have heard 
of it elsewhere. Quicksilver, virgin and cinnabar, is found in 
the Rio Grande country, below the Taos mountain pass. Old 
Spanish records mention the MogoUon mountain as "the place 
where cinnabar is found." 

The deposits of iron ore are numerous, extending from the 
Raton mountains to the Placer and Sandia mountains, overlooking 
the Rio Grande. It is found of excellent quality near Las 
Vegas, where we traced two veins, one of magnetic oxide, 4 
feet thick and very rich, and the other of specular iron ore, also 
rich, and 6 feet in thickness; at the Placer mines, south of 
Santa F6, where are three veins, 6 to 10 feet thick, of rich mag- 
netic iron ore ; also, on the Maxwell grantj in the Apache 
Hills, north of Fort Union; and near Jemez. 

Many of these deposits being quite near to coal and limestone, 
their value is greatly enhanced for manufacturing purposes. 
Such is the case in the Raton mountain, at the Placer mountains, 
and with those at Maxw'ell's. At the Placer mountains, south 
of Santa Fe, there is sufficient timber within a radius of 10 miles 
from the Tuerto ore, to smelt a half million of tons — even if the 
coal should not answer. 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 87 

Gold, silver, copper, load, }]rypsum, china clay and salt have 
heen developed in great abundance betwi'en the Arkansiis and 
the Rio Grande, in the Rocky mountiiins, and their foot hills. 
The localities may be briefly named: 

Placer and (juartz gold at the Moreno mines, 18 miles from 
Maxwell's — where about 2,000 miners are at work. 

Also, at the Placer mountains, south of Santa Fe, which have 
been worked a long time, and are very rich. From the placers 
there at least $1,000,000 has been taken. Here the New Mex- 
ican 3rining Company have 40 stamps at work, and expect to 
take out $200,000 in gold the coming year. The number of pro- 
ductive veins in this Placer mountain district is extraordinary — 
20 liaving been shafted upon in the San Lazaro mountain alone. 
These mines alone will furnish a heavy traffic to a railroad, and 
attract a large population, but they comprise only one of the 
numerous similar localities in New Mexico. 

Gold bearing quartz is also found in the Sandia mountain, 
where Captain Colton visited two veins near Tejon. And gold 
dust is reported in nearly all the arroyos near this mountain. 

At the base of all the Placer mountains the drift is impreg- 
nated with gold, and it is proposed to lead water from the Pecos 
river, 68 miles distant, by a ditch, at an estimate cost of $2.50,000, 
for the purpose of washing it, for which a company has been 
formed. 

Gold is found in the range east of the Rio Grande, in New 
Mexico, to a large extent — for 100 miles south of Santa Fe, and 
northward for 120 miles to Sangre de Cristo. 

Silver and Lead. — The Sandia range, 18 to 25 miles from the 
Rio Grande, which it adjoins on the east, is tlie great rei)ository 
of argentifierous galena in New Mexico, and its mineshavebeen 
extensively worked in former times by the Spaniards — using 
the Pueblo Indians as slaves. 

Captain Colton and Dr. Bell visited a number of mines in 
this district, and report them apparently rich, as also the veins 
of argentiferous galena in the Placer mountains. Both are de- 
scribed in detail in Captain Colton's report. The Sandia moun- 
tains are the great <<Organ range" of New Mexico, whidi ex 
tend from the Galisteo southward for over 200 miles, and in 
which are found throughout lodes of silver and C()i»per, many of 



BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 



which were worked by the old Spaniards before the Pueblo In- 
dians rose and drove them out, two hundred years ago, filling 
up these mines. 

Silver lead is also found in the Moreno mining district, near 
Cimarron, on Maxwell's grant, and in Turkey Mountain, north 
of Fort Union, but has not been developed as yet in either 
locality. 

The beds of auriferous copper ore on the surveyed railroad 
route, which are very numerous and rich, will probably be found 
to furnish the most profitable business of all to a railroad. Many 
of these ores in the Placer mountain district will bear a freight 
charge of $50 dollars per ton, and yield a handsome profit to the 
miner and smelter. This would pay 6 cents per ton per mile 
to Kansas City. For some time, until labor becomes cheaper, 
and capital more abundant, it is probable that a large amount of 
these, as well as of the silver ores, will be transported to the 
Missouri or Mississippi — there to be smelted — especially as the 
road can afi"ord for several years, while the process of building 
up this country is going rapidly on, to carry ores as return freight, 
at a very low charge. They must eventually all be reduced 
here where coal abounds. 

These copper ores are found in the Cimarron district; in 
Turkey mountain, north of Fort Union; and on the Sandia moun- 
tains, adjoining the Rio Grande; along the whole extent of the 
Organ range; and in abundance in the Placer mountains, south 
of Santa Fe, where we visited several good veins, one of which 
was over 20 feet thick, and reported to contain from 15 to 26 per 
cent, of copper, and also to be rich in gold. 

On the San Ysidro mountain, in this district, there are 
numerous lodes of copper, as well as silver and gold, which 
were worked many years ago — before the memory of the old- 
est inhabitant. The ruins [of numerous furnaces and arastras 
are to be seen. 

On a rich vein, recently opened in Tijeras Canon, on the San- 
dia mountain, one mile from the town of Tijeras, and close to 
the railway surveyed line (east of the Rio Grande,) the shaft has 
been sunk about 200 feet — the vein being 3 feet thick, and im- 
proving as the mine deepens. A large quantity of good ore had 
been taken out, and a smelting furnace was erected close by. 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPBINQS, ETC. 89 

There are good veins of very pure China chiy in the Placer 
mountains; and gypsum, which the Mexicans use as phister, for 
window lights, etc., is very abundant ah)ng the route from the 
Purgatory valley, to and into the Sandia mountains, where, at 
the towns Tejon and Uila de Gato, quite a business is carried 
on by the people, who make plaster and sell it at Santa Fe, and 
along the Rio Grande, for $1 per bushel. It may be expected to 
furnish a considerable local business. Near Tejon, Captain Col- 
ton rode over an extensive bed of gypsum, crystalline and 
opaque, which was three miles long, 300 yards wide, and 10 feet 
deep, and on Tecolote creek it was equally abundant. 

On the great plateau of the Rocky Mountains, southwest of 
Cafion Blanco summit, are the Salinas, which furnish an un- 
limited quantity of good salt. A large part of New Mexico is 
supplied from here, it being wagoned to Santa Fe, Las Vegas, 
to the towns along the Rio Grande, and even to Chihuahua. 
The only cost is that of transportation. It occurs in quantity in 
many places in New Mexico, often mixed with alkali — and also 
pure in lakes. One vein is in the neighborhood of Fort Stanton. 
The evaporation in the salt lakes makes an annual deposit of salt 
several inches in thickness, coarse, strong, and of the best quality. 
It has often been taken to the city of Chihuahua for sale, as the 
salt of that state is inferior, being mixed with alkali. The 
principal lakes are in the valley between the Organ and Sacra- 
mento mountains; one lake on the Texas line, and the best one 
sixty miles northward, and another large and excellent one about 
sixty miles south of Santa Fe, near the town of INCanzano, whence 
many wagon loads are regularly carried to Santa Fe and other 
distant points, the article forming quite a comm9dity of interior 
eommerce. 

Coal is very abundant in numerous localities in New Mexico, 
and will furnish a heavy traffic for the supply of the timberloss 
districts of the plains, and the mines and mills in the moun- 
tains — the latter trade being in proportion to the extent of the 
development of the mines of precious ores, and those of cop- 
per, lead, iron, and so on. 

Deposits of coal are known to extend as far west as the Moqui 
villages, more than 300 miles from Alburquerque, where Dr- 
Newberry saw a bed 12 feet thick. 



90 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

The most westerly deposit reported by Dr. Parry was on the 
Zuiii Pass line, 15 miles east of the Indian pueblo or town of 
Zuni, where he saw a bed 4 feet thick, near Pescado Springs, at 
a good elevation in the bluffs for mining, and to all appearances 
sufficiently extensive to be valuable: in quality rather slaty at 
outcrop, but likely to improve as opened. There were also 
other beds, the outcrop showing along the bluff for several miles. 
This is 140 miles west of the Bio Grande at Alburquerque. 

In the Sarcino Canon, about 30 miles west of the Rio Grande, 
and within 3 miles of the surveyed line on the RitOj are three 
distinct seams of coal, averaging 3 to 4 feet in thickness; one of 
these is 4 feet thick, and apparently without any included slate 
veins. It dips about 40°, and the quality is not very good at the 
outcrop, but it may improve at greater depth. The extent of 
the deposit remains to be proven, but as we hear of coal existing 
north, south and west of this locality at intervals over long dis- 
tances, there is a reasonable prospect of finding an abundance of 
fair coal. 

Dr. Parry found near Acoma, 60 miles from the Rio Grande, 
west from Alburquerque, cannel coal in veins as thick as 20 inches, 
which the Indians use for jet ornaments, and very good coal at 
San Jose, 7 miles west of Cubero, in three veins, of which the 
total thickness was three feet — the thickest seam being 20 
inches. 

On the San Felipe line, near Gavilan Pass, 20 miles from the 
town of El Rito, is found a good vein of coal of workable thick- 
ness. And on the same line, near San Pedro, on the divide 
between the Puerco and the Jemez, was seen a vein of fine can- 
nel coal, two feet thick, and nearly everywhere indications of 
an abundance of cannel coal; this was 60 miles west of the Rio 
Grande. We were informed of numerous veins of coal, two to 
four feet thick, and covering an area of 40 miles, existing at 
Agua Azul, but did not see them. Dr. Wizlezenus saw coal 
near the village of Jemez. Good coal is found immediately 
west of the Sierra Madre, near Fort Defiance, and is reported to 
extend to within a few miles of Campbell's Pass. 

The proposed railway via San Felipe, north of San Mateo 
mountain, will probably lie nearer to extensive deposits of good 
coal than those further south. Several localities of coal, in thick 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 91 

beds, are reported in thut country, between Jeniez and tlic 
Sierra ]N[adre; and Simpson saw coal in the Cnfion de Cluu'o, 
near tlie o(Jth parallel, almost duo north of San Mateo. 

Tlie occurrence of anthracite coal in workable beds in the 
western territories, near the gold and silver mining districts, is 
of such importance that a reference to the anthracite coal beds 
between the Old Placer mountains and the Cerrillos in Siinta Fe 
county, occurring as they do in connection with carbonate of 
iron and hematite, and having numerous veins of rich magnetic 
iron ore within a few miles of them, cannot fail to command 
the attention of the iatelligent reader. The outcroppings of 
coal in the district referred to were first exposed in the center 
of the little branches that run into the Galisteo. The first one 
is about four miles south of the Galistec*. The following 
section of the strata was taken ascending: 

1. Laminated clay, with thin seams of sand passing up into 
carbonaceous clay as a floor for coal. 

2. Anthracite, 5 to 6 feet. 

3. Drab clay, indurated, 15 to 29 feet. 

4. Ferruginous sandstone, passing up into a light grayish 
sandstone 30 to 50 feet. 

The mine is opened by a tunnel 90 feet in length; the dip is 
15° to the east; this coal contains 88 per cent, of fixed carbon. 
In another locality the coal is opened by three tunnels, two 
twenty-five feet long, and one forty feet long, and has a thick- 
ness of four feet of anthracite. The coal from this mine con- 
tains 87 per cent, of fixed carbon, and when burning shows only 
the short, blue flame of carbonic oxide. This coal has been in 
use in driving the engine of the New Mexico Mining Company's 
stamp mill in the vicinity. A hundred pounds brought to Santa 
F6 was used by Professor Bruckner in his assaying furnace, in 
order to test the heating power practically. He found that a 
white heat was reached in a very short time, and that this heat 
lasted about three times as long as that produced by an equal 
weight of charcoal. As the material does not coke in the least, 
it is evident from this test that it is perfectly adapted to use in 
blast furnaces, though it will re(iuire a higher pressure of blast 
on account of its density, than Charcoal or coke. As far as its 
application for all practical purposes is concerned, it is undoubt- 



92 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

ediy fully equal to Pennsylvania anthracite, and really the best 
fuel discovered so far in the West. 

Between these two mines exists a bed of excellent fire-clay. 
It has been thoroughly tested, and proved to be fully adapted as 
fire-proof material for furnaces. 

Coal banks have been opened at a number of points to the 
north of the above mines, and the proof is concliisive that it ex- 
ists in large quantities. Between the clay and the following 
sandstone stratum, beds of iron ore. are found. Both carbonate 
and hematite are present. Ores of this kind, as well as veins 
of magnetic iron of great purity, abound in this vicinity. 

The existence of mines of gold and silver, of lead, zinc, 
copper and antimony, and of the different ores of iron, in almost 
immediate connection with deposits of anthracite coal, and fire- 
proof material, indicates at once the valleys of the Galisteo and 
Santa F^, as points which have all the natural requirements to 
guarantee the erection upon a large scale of metallurgical works 
and machine shops for railroads, etc. 

Other coal beds have been found in the county of Santa Fe, 
mainly upon the Santa Fe, the Tesuque, and the Galisteo 
streams. 

In the Tijeras canon, in Bernalillo county, a mile and a half 
above the town of Tijeras, a vein of bituminous coal four and 
a-half feet thick, was seen and traced by sinking shafts along the 
vein for a distance of two thousand feet, by the engineer of the 
railroad survey. 

In the Pecos valley coal has been found in various localities, 
and also in the Gallinas valley, in San Miguel county. There 
is a fine bed of it five miles above the town of Anton Chico, on 
the Pecos, and another on the eastern slope of the Ghupaines 
mountain, near the town of Las Vegas, on the Gallinas. 

In the Cimarron section a large vein of coal, fourteen feet 
thick, is reported on Rabbit Ear Creek, four miles below the 
wagon road ford. 

Accessible to the Rio Grande valley, from the mouth of the 
Galisteo southward to El Paso, a large amount of coal is found. 
The following are the localities reported, of which those on the 
Puerco, in Tijeras canon, and near Don Pedro, are the only ones 
that have been actually examined. 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 98 



1st. Near San Felipe, thickness and quality reported good. 
2d. Six miles east of Algrodones, reported very <,'()od. 
3d. In Tijeras canon, already referred to, 4A feet thick, qual- 
ity at outcrop not very good; expected to improve when opened. 

4th. West of Los Lunas on the Puerco, of fair (luality— has 
been used in government shops. 

5th. Near La Joya, on east side of river. 

6th. In the Sierra Magdalena, west of Socorro. 

7th. North of Fort Craig, 8 miles east of Don Pedro, vein 5J 
feet thick. Dr. Leconte, geologist, examined this bed, and 
reports it of good quality, and that it may be worked for many 
years. 

8th. In the Caballo mountains, on east side, below Craig. 

9th. At Robledo. 

10th. Abundantly near Doiia Ana and Mesilla, on both sides 
of Rio Grande, 3 feet thick of good bituminous coal. 

In reference to the proposed railroad branch from Albur- 
querque to El Paso and Chihuahua, these deposits along the Rio 
Grande assume great importance. They will furnish a large 
trafiic to the road, besides enabling it to be operated cheaply. 
They are also invaluable to the 7nines of silver, gold, copper, lead 
and iron, ir/iich line both sides of the Mio Grande almost continu- 
ously, enabling these ores to be cheaply produced and smelted; 
and they will furnish fuel to the large agricultural population 
which will before long fill up this unwooded valley. 

Coal and iron are generally associated, that is to say, the 
widely spread ores of iron are generally found in connection 
with workable coal beds, and their value depends much upon 
this connection. Recent extended examinations show that the 
largest and most valuable of the recent coal deposits are connec- 
ted with the tertiary strata, such being the formation in which 
the thick beds of carbonaceous deposits are met with along the 
eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, extending from the 
vicinity of Long's Peak, to the western tributaries of the Ar- 
kansas in Colorado, and the Cimarron, the Canadian and the Pecos 
in New Mexico. But besides these well determined beds, so 
conveniently located for railroad purposes, we meet with other 
deposits in the valley of the Rio Grande, the Puerco of the 



94 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

west, the San Jose and Ojo Pescado, shoiving an extension of the 
coal deposits fully two hundred miles west of the Rio Grande. The 
precise character of these deposits is not yet fully determined; 
most of the beds here exposed consist of thin irregular seams, 
widening out at points to a workable thickness, and at other 
times associatated with igneous protrusions that have converted 
them into anthracite. The most promising of these beds are 
those connected with the Puerco coal basin; they present a suc- 
cession of beds from two to five feet in thickness, generally 
steeply inclined and associated with shales and sandstones, con- 
taining frequent bands of iron ore. To determine satisfactorily 
the precise character and actual value of these deposits would 
require detailed examinations and extensive excavations, which 
can be more advantageously effected in the process of railroad 
construction. In the meantime the large extent of country 
over which these deposits are found, warrants a reasonable 
expectation, that when thoroughly examined, the coal product 
of this section will be ample to meet the requirements of rail- 
road fuel, and also afford freighting material for transportation 
to destitute districts. 

Other crude material connected with the work of economical 
railroad construction, such as building-stone, lime, cement, 
gypsum, clay, etc., are located along the surveyed line of the 
road at such distances that they can be conveniently employed 
in processes of first construction and repairs, and also afford 
material for transportation. In this class is especially noticeable 
the superior quality and great abundance of rock, suitable for 
buildings or heavy masonry, which in different varieties of 
texture and composition adapt them to a great variety of special 
uses. 

In general terms it would be safe to assert as the result of 
observations over this entire mineral region, extending from the 
eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, that the 
proper railroad facilities comprise all that is necessary to induce 
capital and labor to enter into this new field of mining industry, 
and develop to the fullest extent its productive resources. 

Enough has been shown in the foregoing to pi-ove that a 
large amount of good coal is found between the Arkansas river 
and the Pacific, suflicient not only to answer all the purposes of 
a trans-continental railroad, and the resident mining, manufac- 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 95 

turinj? and farming- population, but to furnish a large traffic for 
transi)ortation to loss favored districts. 

The coi<l trado will, in all likelihood, be one of the largest 
sources of business such a road will have. It remains to be 
ascertained whether the varieties found are as well adapted to 
the reduction of iron, as they undoubtedly are to locomotive use. 
If so, the supplies at Canon City, on the Vermejo, in Colorado, 
and near the Placer mountains, and along the Ilio Grande, in 
New Mexico, will prove of the greatest value, in consequence of 
their occurring in connection with rich beds of iron ore, and 
close to limestone. And, before long, we may expect this 
country to be filled with furnaces and rolling mills like the 
rugged mountains of Wales. 

Mineral, and warm and hot springs are met with in almost 
every portion of New Mexico. We shall briefly refer to some of 
them. The principal hot springs are found respectively near 
Las Vegas, in San Miguel county, near Don Fernandez, in Taos 
county, at Ojo Calicnte, in Kio Arriba county, near Jemez, in 
Santa Ana county, near Fort McBae, in Socorro county, and 
Fort Selden in Doiia Ana county, and at Mimbres, in Grant 
county. 

The Las Vegas spring is about six miles above that town on 
the west bank of the Galliuas. The spring, on account of the 
valuable medicinal qualities of the water, has a fine reputation, 
and the locality is a pleasant place of resort. Many invalids 
visit it from the States, and from the surrounding country, the 
accommodations, both for invalids and visitors, being excellent. 

The Don Fernandez spring is situated at the foothills of the 
mountain near Los Eanchos, on the south side of the Hio Grande 
de Taos, about three quarters of a mile from it, and about six 
miles from the town of Don Fernandez de Taos. The water Is 
of a good temperature for bathing, the spring being more 
properly a <<warm" than a "hot" spring, and is said to possess 
valuable healing qualities. 

The Ojo 'Calicnte spring is one possessing an excellent repu- 
tation, due to the acknowledgetl efticacyof its water in curing dis- 
ease. The accommodations are also good and ample, though the 
surroundingsare, perhaps, not so attractive to the pleasure-seeking 
visitor. It is within a few hundred yards of the old Mexican 



96 BREVOOKT'S new MEXICO. 

town of Ojo Caliente to the east, the spring behig immediately 
on the west bank of the stream of the same name, and tlie town 
standing on the elevation at the east edge of the river valley. 
The stream and the town take their names from the spring — 
ojo caliente — being the Spanish for hot spring. From the city 
and neighborhood of Santa Fe the resort receives a large pro- 
portion of its visitors. 

The Jemez spring is near the Mexican town of Cafioncito, 
and about 12 miles north of the Indian pueblo of Jemez, the 
town and pueblo standing upon the Jemez river, and the spring 
upon the east bank of its tributary, the Ojo Caliente creek, in 
San Diego canon, about fifty miles west of Santa Fe. At pres- 
ent there are no adequate accommodations for visitors. The 
healing qualities of the water, which is of a high temperature, 
are said to be very good, and some instances of remarkable 
cures in our knowledge attest the fact. The spring is more 
generally resorted to from the valley of the Rio Grande. Fish- 
ing and hunting is good in the vicinity, and the place is often 
made the headquarters of sporting parties from Santa F6. The 
Fort McRae springs called the Caballo hot springs, are about five 
and a half miles southwest from the fort, near the Rio Grande. 
They burst out from the foot of a mesa or table-land, form some 
large natural bathing pools, and discharge into the river about 
half a mile distant. They have a temperature of about 136° 
Fahrenheit, and contain soda, lime, magnesia, and many other 
chemical ingredients, a full analysis never having been published, 
which have brought them in great repute for curing rheumatism 
and all scrofulous and cutaneous diseases. There are as yet no 
adequate accommodations for the reception and care of visitors 
and invalids; but as the place shall become more and more one 
ef resort that want will naturally become supplied . 

The Mimbres springs are two, a warm and a hot spring. The 
former boils up out of nearly level ground, the surrounding plain 
being volcanic. The stream it emits would about fill a six-inch 
pipe, and affords enough water to irrigate the land for about a 
mile and a half below. The temperature is about the proper 
one for bathing. We are not aware whether the properties of 
the water are mineral. The hot spring in the same vicinity is a 
great natural curiosity. It is circular, twenty-two feet in 
diameter, and rises to the top of a mound about one hundred 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 97 

feet high, and four hundred feet in diameter at base, and one 
hundred at top. The mound is very isolated, loominpf up prom- 
inently above the surrounding;: volcanic plain, and appears to 
have been thrown up by the action of the elements beneath. 
Its exterior, like the portion surrounding the water in the spring, 
has the appearance of having once been liquid, and poured out 
as it were over the entire surface of the mound. The water is 
so hot that the hand cannot remain in it more than three seconds, 
without being withdrawn. A goat leaped into the spring, and, 
though remaining only a few seconds of time, on beine taking 
out it was lifeless, and completely deprived of hair. This spring 
is celebrated in southern New Mexico for the healing qualities 
and efficacy of its water, particularly in chronic cases. Both the 
warm and the hot spring are in township 20 south, of range 11 
west, the former in section 18, and the latter in section 20 of the 
township, about twenty-five miles southeast from Silver City. 

In proper connection with the mention we have made of the 
various national productions and characterics of New Mexico, 
comes a reference to what is known of our native jewels. The 
garnets found in the Navajo country, in the northwestern section 
of the Territory, are abundant, and of good quality, and their 
existence there has been long known. We arc not aware of any 
discoveries of precious stones in any considerable quantity in 
any other section of the Territory. The United States Surveyor 
General for New Mexico in his annual report for 1872, in writing 
of the diamond region, so called, in northwestern New Mexico 
and northeastern Arizona, and in referring to a collection of 
specimens received by him from some gentlemen who had 
recently prospected in that region, says: — 

<< These gentlemen exhibit and present to me a considerable 
quantity of precious stones of great brilliancy and beauty, which 
they assure me, and I believe, were found in the region spoken 
of. Among these stones are said to be well authenticated and 
thoroughly tested rough diamonds. There are also the following 
classes of rough stones: — True oriental ruby, hyacinth ruby, 
spinel ruby, garnet, sapphire proper, emerald, zircon, topaz of 
different colors, amethyst, opal of different varieties, corundum, 
crystalizcd alumina, black carbon or diamond, beryl, tourmaline, 
and various other kinds of native jewels of commercial value. I 
am also assured that the same region contains many very fine 

7 



BKEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



specimens of ci'ystalized fossils, including really immense quan- 
tities of petrified wood, the latter occurring in what is called 
fossil groves or forests. The soil where the precious stones have 
so far been found in this district is composed of crystalline mat- 
ter and conglomerate, crushed, broken, and disintegrated by the 
action of the elements and other natural causes. There is evi- 
dence of volcanic influences in the geological formation, lava 
and scoria occurring frequently and in considerable quantities 
and masses. The prevailing rock is red and gray sandstone, 
the formation having the appearance of a sedimentary deposit. 
All stones so far found have been picked up upon the surface of 
the earth in natural washings, and upon the ant hills. It is 
believed that when proi^er energy is bestowed ux>on this branch 
of industry in that region it will become of commercial import- 
ance. The distance fi-om Santa Fe to Fort Defiance, near where 
the stones are found, is about 200 miles due west." 

The total yield of the precious metals in the United States 
during 1873 is said to have been $72,258,000, being an increase 
of about $10,000,000 over that of 1872, and nearly one-half of 
which, $35,000,000, chiefly in silver, was contributed by Nevada. 
Of the balance it is stated California contributed about $18,000,- 
000, Utah $5,000,000, Colorado $4,000,000, Montana $4,000,000, 
Idaho 2,000,000, Oregon $1,500,000, Washington $225,000, and 
Arizona $48,000. We believe there is included in the $72,000,- 
000, about $1,225,000 from British Columbia, and about $1,000,- 
000 from Mexico. 

It is very noticeable thatinthis statement, which in substance 
is being published in the press all over the world, there is an 
entire omission of any reference to the produce of precious metals 
in New Ilexico, unless the amount is included — as much else of 
our productions are — in the amount credited to Colorado. The 
editor of the News, at Mesilla, New Mexico, states that it is safe 
to allow for the gold and silver brought to that place from Silver 
City and vicinity, in the adjoining county of Grant, during the 
year 1873, at $3,000 a week, which gives $156,000 from Grant 
county alone. To this must be added the amount taken out at 
the mines near Socorro, and in Colfax county, which together 
will be about the same as from Grant. Considerable gold and 
silver have also been found in Santa Fe, Taos, and Lincoln 
counties, and a portion of the San Juan mines are also south of 
the Colorado liuie. These amounts must reach as high as $350,- 



METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 



99 



000. We hope the people of New Mexico and their press, says 
the editor, will unite in j>::itlu>ring: the stjitistics of not only our 
crop of i)recious metals, but also of the wool, hides and pelts 
shipped, and stock driven from this Territory, that it may 
receive the credit due for its productions. 

in concluding- the foref^oing; chapter, embracing the subject of 
mines and (<iuarlz and placer gold) mining in New Mexico, we 
deem it proper to append, for ready reference, for the use and 
benefit of miners and other dealers in gold dust the following tal)le: 

ShoK'iny the rtffite ofani/ amount of (iold Dust, from 1 grain 
to 10 ounces^ at $16 to $2it per ounce. 



0"cr:NroES- 



No 


$16 00 


$17 00 


$18 HO 


$19 00 


S2U 00 


$21 00 


$22 00 


$■2.3 00 




JXT OZ. 

16 


per OZ. 

17 


per OZ. 

18 


per OZ. 

19 


per OZ. 

20 


per OZ. 

21 


per OZ. 

22 


por OZ. 


1 


23 


2 


32 


34 


36 


38 


40 


42 


44 


46 


3 


48 


51 


54 


57 


60 


63 


66 


69 


4 


64 


68 


72 


76 


80 


84 


88 


92 


5 


80 


85 


90 


95 


100 


105 


110 


115 


6 


96 


102 


108 


114 


120 


126 


132 


138 


7 


112 


119 


126 


133 


140 


147 


154 


161 


8 


128 


136 


144 


152 


160 


168 


176 


184 


9 


144 


153 


162 


171 


180 


189 


198 


207 


10 


160 


170 


180 


190 


200 


210 


220 


230 



F B KT OSrir^VSrE I G-KCTS. 



1 


80 


85 


90 


95 


100 


105 


110 


115 


2 


160 


175 


180 


190 


200 


210 


220 


230 


3 


240 


255 


270 


285 


300 


315 


330 


345 


4 


320 


340 


360 


380 


400 


420 


'440 


460 


O 


400 


425 


450 


475 


500 


525 


550 


575 


6 


480 


510 


540 


570 


600 


630 


660 


690 


7 


560 


595 


630 


665 


700 


735 


770 


805 


8 


640 


680 


720 


760 


800 


840 


880 


920 


9 


720 


765 


810 


855 


900 


945 


990 


1035 


10 


800 


850 


900 


950 


1000 


1050 


1100 


1150 



GrFLj^XlSrS. 



1 


H 


31 


3f 


4 


H 


4^ 


U 


4J 


2 


n 


7 


Ih 


8 


^ 


H 


9 


9.\ 


3 


10 


10.1 


in 


12 


m 


13 


131 


14} 


4 


13* 


14 


15 


16 


16t 


17* 


18 


19 


5 


m 


111 


18 1 


20 


20^ 


21§ 


22J 


23f 


6 


20 


21 


22 J 


24 


25 


2() 


27 


28i 


7 


23^ 


24^ 


26 1 


28 


29 ,V 


30 i 


sn 


33} 


8 


26;- 


28 


30 


32 


33-^ 


34^ 


36 


38 


9 


30 


31J 


33f 


36 


Slh 


39 


40i^ 


42J 


10 


m 


35 


37| 


40 


41f 


43* 


45 


47* 



100 BREVOOKT'S new MEXICO. 

MANUFACTURING FACILITIES. 
We in New Mexico depend as yet almost entirely upon for- 
eign markets for the purchase of all the manufactured articles in 
use among us. Iron, nails, steel, leather, woolen fabrics, every- 
thing indeed, is bought away from home, and transported over the 
Plains, when every one of the articles named could be economically 
manufactured here. In the present method of furnishing our 
markets with these supplies, millions of dollars are drained from 
the Territory which never return, and which go into the pock- 
ets of manufacturers in the States. The elements of manufactu- 
ring success ABOUND IN New Mexico. Our iron ore is uncom- 
monly rich, coal abundant and labor cheap. There is not one 
article into the fabrication of which iron enters but what could 
be produced as cheaply in our Territory as it can in any other 
part of the United States. The same may be said of leather, of 
which article there is also a large amount consumed annually by 
our people. Our forests abound with timber which yields a bark 
of the best quality for tanning purposes. Thousands of hides 
are yearly thrown away as worthless, though many of late years 
are exported. With these inducements before them it is strange 
to say that the people have neglected this branch of business 
entirely, and have depended on the States to get leather for the 
most ordinary uses. The wool which our sheep would give for 
the manufacture of cloth is almost inexhaustible in quantity, and 
could be bought for a very moderate price. Capital applied to 
either of these branches of manufacturing could not but produce 
large incomes to the caj^italist, and at the same time give an im- 
petus to the material progress of the Territory that would be as- 
tonishing. Our wool was disposed of here in the Territory a few 
years ago at from nothing up to ten cents per tleece, the owners 
of the animals being glad to get the wool from the sheep's back 
without trouble to themselves; this wool was transported across 
the plains to the States, there manufactured and probably 
returned here in cloth, clothing and bhuikets, to be sold with all 
the costs of transportation, profits, labor, etc., added. 

We might give other facts and illustrations — but enough has 
been said to suggest very clearly that we ought to develope and 
avail ourselves of the manufacturing materials and facilities we 
possess. We will here but briefly refer to some of our manu- 
facturing elements and facilities, and not enter into that detail 



MANUFACTURING FACILITIES. 101 

of facts ami arg-iiinent which could ho arrayed, and wliidi wouhl 
make the hahuuo sheet show in dollars and cents tiie eHornious 
net profits that a judicious system of the culture of the soil, tlie 
estahlishnient of manufiictories, and increase and improvement 
of the sheep, horses and cattle of New Mexico, would annually 
pour into the pockets of our peoi)le, and of capitalists who would 
invest in this way. Manufacturing- in the Territory can hardly 
as yet be said even to be in its Infancy; but capital which 
always for itself searches out its abiding place, will ere long and 
in due time discover the great west hereaway, and come and 
grow up with the country. 

The Commissioner to survey the route for the Thirty-fifth 
Parallel Railroad across New Mexico, in his report of the survey 
says : 

<' Along the route there are numerous points where water 
power can be used to great advantage for the manufacture of 
wool, the stamping and reduction of ores, etc. 

'< In the canons of the Arkansas river, by which this stream 
breaks through the easterly wall of the Rocky Mountains, and 
obtains an outlet to the great plains, there is an unlimited amount 
of water power, fully equal to the best in New England, and 
which will create at these points, especially near Cauon City, 
very large manufacturing and metal reducing works. The Pur- 
gatory and Pecos rivers also furnish, where they canon, admir- 
able positions for water power; and the three caiions of the Rio 
Grande, between the mouth of the Santa Ft; river and the San 
Luis Park, can scarce! y be surpassed for this purpose. 

<< The woolen mill at Kroenig's, near Fort Union, New Mex- 
ico, is highly successful.* 

<<\Vest of the Rio Grande, as well as east, there are luimer- 
ous smaller caiions in the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Matlre, 
the Mogoyon range, the Sierra Nevada and Coast range, whi-re, 
by the construction of dams, a portion of tlie inuuense vohinu's 
of water which pour down these mountains in the rainy season, 
and during the melting of the snow, may be economized and 
applied to running, on a limited scale, grist and saw mills, 
stamping machinery, etc. The Caiions of the Jjittle Colorado 



'This manufacturing establishment, the only one in the Territory, ha.s since 
been destroyed by Are. 



102 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

and the Verde, may be used on a much larger scale, while the 
grand canon of the Colorado probably presents facilities that are 
without limit if they can be made available. 

<< If our line should follow one of the routes suggested, north 
of Mount Agassiz, it will skirt the falls of the Little Colorado, 
where this river enters a caiion 100 feet deep and 200 feet wide, 
affording, it is estimated, from 4,000 to 6,000 horse-power in 
low water, and suggesting the site for a considerable manufac- 
turing place. There is the greatest abundance and variety of 
mountain timber adjacent; the altitude is medium, say 4,500 
feet above the ocean; the valley above the falls fertile and ex- 
tensive; the climate exceedingly healthy, and the position other- 
wise advantageous as being immediately at the base of the 
highest range on the route. Here may be the great cabinet 
shop of the plains. 

<< Manufacturing will also be carried on at various points along 
or accessible to the line, where coal is found abundantly, or in 
connection with desirable accessories. For instance, on the 
Arkansas, below the Great Canon; south of the Raton moun- 
tain, near Maxwell's*, near Las Vegas, in New Mexico — if the 
beds of coal should prove to be thick enough; at the eastern 
base of the Rocky Mountains, near Anton Chico; at mrmerous 
localities on the Bio Grande^ on the slopes of the Sierra Madre, 
and most probably on the Great Colorado river. At such points, 
in addition to coal, ice find attractive posit ions for settlement — good 
land, abundance of water, timber, and a healthful and genial 
climate. 

"Several of these localities appear to offer superior induce- 
ments for the manufacture of iron for the many purposes of a 
mining country, and to supply the wants of the railroad at cen- 
tral points, that will save the burthen of the present lengthy 
transportation." 

* JSow the town of Cimarron. 



EDUCATION. 103 



EDUCATION. 

Until recently this iiuportaut suhjci-t has received very*little 
practical encouragement in the Territory. The little advance- 
ment it had received was solely through the instrumentality of 
private enterprise. ]iefore the acquisition of the country hy 
the United States, in 184(5, as evidenced by the journals of the 
provincial and territorial deputations and departmental assem- 
bly, respectively, the legislative bodies of the province, the ter- 
ritory and the department of New Mexico, those bodies regu- 
larly made provision for the education of the youth of the 
country in primary education.* They do not appear to have 
ever established any institution of learning here, or indeed to 
have contemplated giving any but an elementary education to 
the youth. The salaries provided for the teachers were small, 
and those at the capital were paid from the public treasury by 
appropriation, while in the different jurisdictional partidos, into 
which the country was divided, the prefects thereof were required 
to see that schools were provided and were maintained by local tax- 
ationorfromaretained portion ofthe revenue collected for the gen- 
eral treasury. But since the change of government at that time, 
and the inauguration of new laws, usages and customs, the state, 
until witliin the last three or four years, had ceased in New 
Mexico to afford any encouragement whatever to the education 
of the rising generation in the Territory, whose legislatures have 
allowed one generation at least to grow up withoutany provision, 
so fjir as they are concerned, for its education. Tlie legislature 
of 1871, however, enacted the existing public school law, which 
appears to be satisfactory to the friends of education here. Cer- 
tainly the system of schools and their operation under it, seem to 
progress well, and the great beneficial results of the law are 
everywhere manifest. 

" About the flrst action we arc aware of, had logislativoly conoernln<? educa- 
tion, was the a<loption of a resolution by the provincial deputation, April 27, 
1822, at the close of the war for national independence, declarln'4 that it was the 
duty and the intention of the province to provide ways and means for the edu- 
cation of the youth of New Mexico. 



104 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

As fully and sufficiently presenting the actual condition of 
education in the Territory, we subjoin the following official 
information on the subject from the federal Secretary of State 
for New Mexico, charged by the territorial statute with the gen- 
eral superintendency of schools therein: — 

Territory of New Mexico. ") 

Office of the Secretary, v 

Santa Fe, Dec. 31, 1873. ) 

Hon. John Eaton, , ") 

Commissioner of Education : j 

In answer to your inquiries of October 1st, and December 
19th, respectively, for << information respecting schools in New 
Mexico," for your report of 1873, I have the honor to post 
you the following: 

The public school law of New Mexico creates a board of 
supervisors and directors of public schools for eacli county 
consisting of three persons elected biennially, with the Probate 
Judge of the county as ex-officio president of the board. "The 
sole and entire management, supervision and control," is given 
to this board, "of the public schools within their respective 
counties;" as also is the <' entire and exclusive management and 
supervision of the school funds of the respective counties, and 
of the control and expenditure thereof." 

THE SCHOOL FUND 

consists of 25 per cent, of the entire tax on property, a poll tax 
of $1.00 on every male citizen above the age of twenty-one 
years, and any "surplus of more than five hundred dollars in 
the treasury of any county, after paying the current expenses of 
such county." 

This school law and the provision for the school fund was 
enacted by the Legislative Assembly of 1871-72, and is probably 
the most effective law that the friends of education in New Mex- 
ico have ever succeeded in placing on the statutes. The great- 
est practical results at least have followed, and its workings have 
unquestionably popularized free schools throughout the Territory. 

The better to learn the progress of the work under the law, 
and to give a clear idea respecting the same, on the receipt of 
your letter in October last, I addressed a circular letter and blank 
to presidents of school boards, teachers and educational men 



EDUCATION. 



105 



throughout the Territory, asking for certsiin statistics tliercin 
indicated. ]Most of tliese persons have answered, and with a 
commendable interest. ]Much dehiy has been unav()i(hil»ly in- 
curred by reason of the entire absence of any system for obtain- 
ing tlie information sought. I give you tlie following aggre- 
gated statement of tlie schools in this Territory. 



scnooLS. 


O 


c 


<-t 
as 


Average No. 
of months 
taught. 


Average of 
wages of 
teachers. 




FUNDS. 


Public Schools 
supported by 
taxation 

Private Schools 
Pueblo Schools 


133 
26 

5 


5625 
1370 

107 


136 
53 

7 


6J 
9 

6 


$28 69 


( 10 E. 
- Ill S. 
(l2E.S 

j 7 E. 
I 19E.S 

E. 


$29,721 57 

27,100 00 
4,000 00 




164 7109 


196 








$G(),821 57 
29,886 00 


Census returns 
1870— public 
and private 
schools 


44 


1798 


72 








Increase for '73 


120 


5304 


134 








$30,935 57 



* E stands for English and S for Spanish. 

Right here allow me to digress for a word, and call the 
attention of those who within the past year or two have seemed 
to delight in 

MISREPRESENTING THE EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS 

of New Mexico through the puldic press outside of the Territory, 
both east and west, and otherwise, by asserting with a reckless- 
ness for truth astonishing to relate, that either tliere are no 
schools whatever in the Territory, or, at most, a number ex- 
pressed by a unit of medium value. I would resi)ectfully refer 
those making thuse erroneous statements to the census report of 
1870, table XII, of New Mexico, vol. 1, and to the report of 
the Commissioner of Education for 1873, where will be found the 
statement above set forth for 1870, of pui)lic schools. 



106 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

We glean the following items from the mass of local reports 
at hand. There is taught in all the schools reading, writing, 
and arithmetic, grammar in 41, geography in 34, and history in 
17; a few also teach other of the higher branches. The county 
of San Miguel report.^two public schoo. houses worth $ J 824.43. 
In Silver City, Grant county, 

THE LADIES HAVE FORMED AN EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY, 

have raised a fund of $1,400, and express a determination to 
increase it to $2,500. They have also adopted plans for a brick 
school house, 20x40 feet on the ground, and we doubt not that 
they will carry the enterprise to completion. God bless the 
ladies! A subscription is also out in Lincoln for the same noble 
purpose. 

Doubtless there are other enterprises of a similar character in 
other enterprising towns, of which mention has not been made. 
In very many districts the use of a school room is donated; in 
others, rented for a moderate sum. In Doila Ana and Grant 
counties the supervisors of public schools donate their per diem 
allowed by law to the school fund. 

THE SCHOOL, BOOKS 

used, are legion in variety, and run from a sectarian catechism 
to Ollendorf's method. School books are very generally bought 
for the indigent. So deep is the interest in some of the counties, 
that the local school boards have made inquiries of the territorial 
officers, if there was not a law or some means by which the 
attendance of children could be enforced. One county reports 
that boys only are admitted to the schools. Four public schools 
reported, are combined with parochial or mission schools. Taking 
the usual percentage of children relative to the agregate popu- 
lation, and there are 22,909 children in New Mexico of school 
age. Deduct the number reported attending both the public 
and private schools, and we find still in the Territory 

15,974 CHILDREN ABSENTEES, 

in most cases doubtless without the opportunity of attending 
school. Of private schools, five are convents under the control 
and management of the '' Sisters of Loretto" with an attendance 
of 546 pupils, 120 of whom are poor. To them tuition is free. 
They have 21 teachers, and an income of $12,000. Next are the 
schools under the control and management of the "Christian 



EDUCATION. 107 



Brothers" (Catholic), of which there are three; two of these 
schools have an attendance of 180 pupils, 10 teachers, and an 
income of $5,450. 

There is also a Jesuit school at Alburquerque. There are two 
Presltyterian Mission schools reported, with an attendance of 80 
pupils and three teachers. Tuition generally free. There is also 
one Methodist Episcopal Mission school, with an attendance of 
80 pupils, two teachers, and an income of $700. 

The above schools, as also others of the private schools, teach 
both the common and higher English and .Spanish branches, and 
will doubtless prove of great value in educating teachers. Some 
of them, we have reason to believe, are model schools. 

PUEBLO INDIAN SCHOOLS. 

We learn from the Pueblo Agent, that two of these schools 
are under the Presbyterian Board of Missions, but that they are 
not managed in a spirit of sectarianism, that a growing interest 
is manifest, and that they are open to all who apply. Twelve 
hundred dollars 9f the fund is contributed by the Presbyterian 
Board, and $2,800, by the general government. 

THE MANIFEST NEED 

among the public schools at this time is a uniform system 
throughout the Territory, — something in the nature of a central 
board of commissioners composed of practical educators, who 
feel a pride in the wcn-k, with authority to establish some simi)le 
general plan, embodied in printed form for the government of 
schools. 

The necessity for such board is intensified, for the reason 
that the masses of the people are entirely unused to the advanced 
systems of free schools of the present day and ago; and with 
few honorable exceptions are also unacquainted with the manage- 
ment of public schools in any form. There is scarcely less need 
for public school buildings. 

There is also a want of uniform school books in individual 
schools, and also of competent teachers, both in English and 
Spanish. Some standard of (lualification among teachers should 
be adopted, and to that end an examining officer or a board of 
examiners is an absolute necessity. It should also be their duty 
to visit and examine the schools at stilted times. 



108 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

THE LEGISIiATIVE ASSEMBLY, 

now in session, shows a commendable interest in behalf of 
progress; indeed, we may say, are unanimously in favor of 
further legislation to that end. 

A joint committee has been appointed, having for its object 
a revision of the assessment and tax laws, the improvement of 
the school system, so as to admit a more general availability of its 
advantages, and an increase of the school fund. It is confidently 
expected that minor differences about details will be harmonized, 
and healthy progress be the result. 

OF THE PEOPLE, 

it is simple justice to say, that as a class they are kind, hospi- 
table, industrious, tractable, and law abiding; and in point of 
morals and integrity, they will compare favorably with very 
many who have enjoyed much greater advantages in life. They 
pay their taxes as promptly and as fully as any people in the 
land; and submit as cheerfully when they are satisfied that a 
substantial public good is to be the result. 

It is well to bear in mind the entirely anomalous condition 
of the people and Territory, when compared with any other state 
or territory in the Union, and that the power has not in all 
cases been vouchsafed to human wisdom to eradicate the abuses 
of years in a day. New Mexico, before its acquisition by the 
United States, had been 

UTTERLY NEGLECTED FOR GENERATIONS 

by the government of old Mexico, in all things appertaining to 
its material prosperity and social advancement; and that the 
people were only cognizant of a superior power, as indicated in 
the presence of exacting revenue officers, or the recruiting 
sergeants, incident to the chaotic and turbulent state of a govern- 
ment beset with revolutions and counter-revolutions, which in 
effect were, of course, most paralyzing to productive industries, 
exhausting to accumulated resources, and which made even 
existence itself problematic. In those times, self-preservation, 
the first law of nature, became the chief thought in the family 
circle, and the main business of life with each family. There 
was no time, opportunity or impulse for social or intellectual 
iniprovement, nor had there been for generations. Such, in 
brief, was the condition in which the government found the 



EDUCATION. 109 



people at the time the Territory became part of the Republic. 
They were, and likewise continued to be for a long time, 

BKSET ON ALL. SIDES 

by hostile and nomadic Indian tribes, embodiments of all the 
villainies incident to unrogenerato man, and also with not a few 
of the outlaws, a hair-brained, and graceless set, ever present on' 
the frontier of an advancing American civilization. Scarce had 
the government, through the civil and military authorities, 
made an impression toward bringing order out of chaos, when 

FOLLOWED THE REBELLION, 

threatening the integrity and life of the nation; during which 
event, be it said to the credit of the people of New Mexico, they 
remained true to the flag, and cheerfully 

CONTRIBUTED THEIR QUOTA OF PATRIOTIC CITIZENS 

towards the defense of her soil and the suppression of the 
rebellion. This event, of course, still further kept education 
and progress in abeyance. 

Under the protection which they have enjoyed from the 
government, more particularly for the past few years, and the 
freedom from oppression of the old government, and the result- 
ant prosperity, they are coming to tliiuk of those matters cal- 
culated to better their condition in life, and not the least of 
these is education. 

New Mexico has, we submit, 

MADE A COMMENDABLE START 

in educational interests. It will never be less; but, to the con- 
trary, is destined to develope and grow with accelerating pro- 
gression, ever onward with the approach and advent of railroads 
and telegraphs, and the consequent development of its material 
resources, its rich and varied mining deposits, its extensive 
agricultural, i)astoral, and lumber interests, and the manu- 
factories, intelligent immigration, and general accessories tliat 
hand in hand naturally accompany, and which go to make the 
sum of the advancing elements of a 

HIGHER CIVILIZATION, 

in store for the near future of New Mexico. 
Very Respectfully, 

W. G. RiTCH, 

Secretary of New Mexico. 



110 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

RAILROADS. 
There is as yet not a mile of railway constructed in New 
Mexico, though various important roads are pointing tliis way, 
and are in course of construction. Tlie roads being now con- 
structed are the — 

Atlantic and Pacific, or 35th Parallel ; 

Texas Pacific, or 32d Parallel ; 

Denver and Rio Grande Narrow Guage ; 

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. 

Several others are projected, and charters and rights of way 
have been obtained, the two principal ones being the New Mex- 
ico and Gulf, and the Arkansas Valley and Cimarron, though 
we believe the right of way over the public lands conceded by 
Congress to the former has terminated, owing to non-compliance 
with its conditions. The Arkansas Valley and Cimarron road 
proposes, we believe, connecting with the Atchison, Topeka and 
Santa Fe road, starting from some point in the valley of the 
Arkansas river,* the line bearing thence in a southwesterly di- 
rection, first to the head waters of the Dry Cimarron. 

The necessity and importance of the early construction and 
operation of railroads in New Mexico are constantly becoming 
more and more manifest; and the prospect of one or more of 
them reaching and of at least one of them traversing the Terri- 
tory in the early future, and thereby connecting us with <<the 
rest of mankind," is rapidly brightening. The United States 
Surveyor General a few years ago olficially estimated that 
including the wagons used for government transportation, there 
were used for freighting from the States to New Mexico during 
the year, three thousand wagons; that the average burden of 
each was five thousand pounds, equal in the aggregate to 
fifteen million pounds of freight; that the value of goods im- 
ported from the States amounted to three millions of dollars, of 
which two hundred thousand dollars in value was exported into 
Mexico; that there was imported from Mexico goods, dried 
fruit, &c., to the value of seventy-five thousand dollars; and 
that 750,000 pounds of wool, valued at one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars, was exported to the States; an estimate of the 
value of the various other articles and items of domestic trade 
not being attempted. 

'■ The Rio Napeste of the Mexicans. 



RAILROADS. HI 



The Texas Pacilk' or .32cl Parallel road, says United Stjites 
Surveyor General Proudfit in his last annual report, is being 
rapidly pushed towards us in New Mexico from both Texas and 
California, and under the able nianagenient of the distinfj^uished 
railroad men and eapit;rii.st.s who now control it, there is no 
doubt of its earlj'^ completion. This road will enter the Terri- 
tory near Paso del Norte, or Franklin, on the Rio Grande, in all 
probability, and continue northwesterly to the western boun- 
dary of the Territory. 

The Atlantic and Pacific, or 3oth Parallel road, does not seem 
to be pushed with equal energy, but it has a fine line, running 
nearly centrally through the Territory, east and west, with easy 
grades, through fine grazing and irrigable lands, entirely below 
the line where snows are troublesome. It and the Texas Pacific 
possess the two best lines yet projected for transcontinental rail- 
ways, and no better can be found. It also possesses, as does the 
Texas Pacific, a magnificent land grant in this Territory. These 
lands will become immensely valuable as the roads progress 
through them. The Atlantic and Pacific road is of much 
greater importance to the Territory than the more northern line 
on account of its more central and commanding route; and, if 
built to the Pacific, it would beyond all question speedily become 
an exceedingly popular and profitable road. 

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa F6 road, with its present 
terminus at Granada, Colorado, is being rapidly built westward, 
and it is confidently expected it will be completed to Cimarron 
in this Territory, about one hundred and fifty miles northeast 
from Santa Fe, within the next twelve months. Its ultimate 
ambition is doubtless to reach the Pacific ocean, or the Mexican 
capital. It has no land grant west of Kansas, but is more de- 
serving in this respect than some corporations which having 
large grants do not use them for the benefit of the public by 
building the roads promised when the grants were made. 

The Denver and Rio Grande narrow-guage road, now run- 
ning to Pueblo, Colorado, with a I)ranch to Canon City, has 
thrown out its grading parties of late fifty or seventy-five miles 
towards our Territory; and we have the strongest assurances 
that it means to come down the valley of the Rio Grande, 
which it will probably enter by way of Sangre de Cristo Pass. 



] 12 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

This north and south line will be of great benefit to the Terri- 
tory when completed. 

Taken all in all the prospects of this Territory, as regards 
railroad communication, may be considered as very flattering; 
and with their advance a new era will dawn upon New Mexico. 
And with her admirable climate, her mineral resources, her bound- 
less pastures, her fruitful valleys, magnificent and sublime scenery 
and health-giving mineral toaters, she will draw to her borders 
all sorts and conditions of men, who will build up a common- 
wealth which will be an honor to the great nation of which she 
will form a part. 

One of the most practically successful railway enterprises of 
those we have named, is the Denver and Rio Grande. Its west- 
ern terminus is now at Pueblo, in Colorado, and to that point it 
is doing an immense freight business. With a capacity of 200 
freight cars and 10 locomotives, the wants of the shippers along 
its line could not be supplied. There are eighty cars ordered 
and two new locomotives, to be supplied in the month of Decem- 
ber. The company are now erecting a brick round house at 
Denver, and making many improvements along the line of their 
road. This narrow guage road will penetrate, says one of the 
Pueblo journals, one of the richest mineral bearing districts, as 
well as the great pastoral country of New Mexico. Southern 
Colorado is greatly benefitted and developed by this road. The 
projectors and owners of this road should meet with perfect 
success, for it is an enterprise that required energy and pluck to 
place it in a prosperous position. 

The Arkansas Valley and Cimarron road, in the first portion 
of its route to the headwaters of the Dry Cimarron, will traverse 
a section, which, while of comparatively small value for farming 
purposes, is nevertheless not without considerable value on 
account of its great advantages as a grazing district. As evi- 
dence of this, for a number of years past almost countless herds 
have been kept in this district, winter and summer, with the 
best of success. Leaving this section of country, and continu- 
ing soutwestwardly, the line crosses the Dry Cimarron, in a 
beautiful valley, much of which is already settled, in anticipa- 
tion of the time when the advent of the locomotive will place 
them in closer communication with the outside world. Thence 
continuing the same course, it passes for a few miles through 



RAILROADS. 113 



the most niagnifieont sconorj' that ono I'ould imap:ine or desire. 
From Capuliii mountain, proi-oediiig westwardly, tlie linehegins 
to descend by the Tinaja, a small stream, to the Canadian valley, 
and theneo direct across a beautiful plain, well watered l)y the 
Canadian, the Vermojo, the Pofiil and the Cimarron, to the town 
of Cimarron in Colftix county. The route of the road has been 
surveyed, we believe, as far as Cimarron, and although the loca- 
tion surveys have not as yet been prosecuted west of that point, 
a series of examination reconnoisances have been made, extend- 
ing westward through the Spanish range, to the valley of the 
Rio Grande, which, while demonstrating that no less than three 
available railway passes existed within fifty miles of Cimarron, 
that one — the Taos pass — was eminently practical. To reach 
this pass a line with comparatively light work and easy grades is 
found running directly from Cini vrron up the valley and cafion 
of the Cimarron river to the Moreno valley, thence keeping up 
the valley to the summit, across and down Taos creek to the 
city of Taos, making a distance from Cimarron to Taos of only 
about fifty miles, and by far the cheapest and best crossing of 
the mountains between Alburquerque, Santa Fe and the Black 
Hills, and at the same time passing the entire distance through a 
country that will afford an immense local traffic. Not only this, 
but reaching the Rio Grande valley, it at once opens up the im- 
mense area of agricultural, mineral and pastoral country to the 
westward. Another route is proposed from Cimarron, via Las 
Vegas, an enterprising town, thecounty seatof San Miguel county, 
and thence to the Rio Grande by way of Anton Chico, or the 
Galisteo creek. 

We may mention another proposed New Mexico railway, 
which if constructed, would doubtless be a very useful and pop- 
ular road — we mean upon a route from the Arkansas river, con- 
necting with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe road, and also 
with the Kansas Pacific, and running from the Colorado line 
through Mora county, and thence due west into Rio Arriba 
county to the Rio Grande, and down that river to Santa Fe, 
thence to Alburquerque, making a junction with the Atlantic 
and Pacific Railroad, and then down the Rio Grande, parallel 
with the river to El Paso, Mexico, and connecting with the 
Texas Pacific road, in southern New Mexico. This is a superior 
route to connect Denver and Santa Fe with the east, and tocon- 

8 



114 BEEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

struct railways to the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, because the 
mountain elevations of the country admit of their being built at 
the least possible expense, because it traverses a country exceed- 
ingly rich in minerals which would, immediately upon their 
being built, make them self supporting; and principally because 
the route presents no solitary obstacle throughout the mountain 
portion of the country in preventing its ox)€ration with the same 
facility in winter as in summer. The construction of a road on 
this route would benefit the government in bringing the public 
domain through which it would pass into market, in the settle- 
ment of the Indian troubles in Colorado, New Mexico and Ari- 
zona, and the opening of mineral, agriculturaland pastoral lands, 
on which thousands of families could obtain happy homes, all of 
which would save and produce more annually than the whole 
cost of the road. 

In the case of railroads, it is not alone the resources of the 
country immediately traversed that contribute to the trade of 
the road, but those of districts even somewhat remote from the 
line, which will be immediately rendered greatly more accessible 
than at present, and will gradually be put into direct communi- 
cation by branches. Thus, as a legitimate and certain effect of 
the construction of the trunk line, private capital will hasten to 
use various points along the route each as a new base from 
which to strike, in order to tap new and distinct sources of 
wealth and trade. Thus, when the 35th parallel road for instance, 
is made, almost immediately a branch will be constructed from 
Cheyenne Wells to Denver, reaching by the shortest practicable 
route the gold and silver mines of the Clear Creek region — the far- 
thest north of any discovered mineral wealth in Colorado — and the 
coal, iron ore, and manufacturing facilities at Ciolden City and Boul- 
der; and another branch will, at an early day, be extended up the 
easy grade — less than 20 feet per mile — of the Arkansas valley, 
to the coal, timber and iron ore at the base of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, to the unexampled manufacturing facilities at the Big 
Cau('n, to the mines of gold and silver, and the arable parks and 
valleys, and the unrivaled pastures of southern Colorado, and to 
that most j^romising reservoir of the precious metals near the 
head of the Arkansas, and in the South Park. As mining devel- 
opments advance, this line will be pushed on westward over 
the great continental divide at Arkansas Pass (which can be 
crossed with a grade of 75 feet per mile), to the waters of Grand 



RAILROADS. 115 



River, and so on eventually through western Colorado into Utah. 
A southward prong of this line will be extended from the 
Arkan.>;as, across Punt'he Pass to the San Luis Park, traversing 
that beautiful basin for its whole lengtli, and opening up an 
extensive raining region in the Spanish Range, on the east, and 
the San Juan mountains on the west. Tliis line, l)y gradual 
extension southward along the Rio Grande, tapping the Abi<[uin 
and Jemez copper mines en route, will finally again intersect the 
trunk road near Alburquorque — Ihe whole route being through 
a country of good rcsourcps, and, except in crossing the Punclie 
Pass, the grade nowhere exceeding 20 feet per mile. A third 
branch will soon be constructed from Alburquerque down the 
valley of the Rio Grande, 2o{) miles to El Paso, traversing all 
the way, by a grade from 5 to 10 feet per mile, a broad, pro- 
ductive valley and vineyard, where enough good wine can be raised 
to supply the United States; and opening up the mines of argen- 
tiferous galena and copper in the Organ range, which encloses 
the valley on the east for the whole distance, and of gold and 
silver and copper in the Ladrones, Socorro, San Mateo and Mim- 
bres mountains on the west; the coal near Fort Craig, and the 
extraordinary rich deposits of copper and gold at Pinos Altos 
and Silver City, with the agricultural wealth of the Mesilla val- 
ley. This branch will be extended from El Paso, 200 miles 
more across a gentle mesa to the City of Chihuahua, the capital 
of the rich northern states of Mexico, which have produced an 
amount of gold and silver, compared with which the production 
of California and all our mineral states and territories is as yet 
but a trifle; where in, a single small mining district, that of 
<< Santa Eulalia," more than 200 mines were formerly worked in a 
space of twosquare leagues, 50 of them to a depth of 600 feet, and 
where a census, taken in 1833, showed that §430,000,000 had, 
up to that time, been taken from the mines in this single limited 
district. But, although the population of the city of Chihuahua, 
adjoining Santa Eulalia, then 76,000, has dwindled to 12,000, 
and very few of the mines are now, by reason of bad govern- 
ment, and its result— insecurity from the Indians, worked at all, 
yet great wealth is still there to reward those who are to extract 
it under the new and stimulating influences of railroad commu- 
nication. This Chihuahua branch may be extended to Durango, 
and eventually to the city of Mexico, opening up a trade with 
7,000,000 of our neighbors, from the best direction to benefit the 



116 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

people of the United States. This is in many respects perhaps 
the most important branch of all, and the rich traffic that it 
promises will induce its construction promptly after the main 
line reaches the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The supplies of 
Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, and other Mexican states which 
are cut off from the ocean by high mountain barriers, are now 
wagoned from the coast in Texas, and icere formerly loagoned 
from Missouri. This trade will be at once restored to its ancient 
channel, and vastly enlarged, when the track reaches Albur- 
querque. The people of Chicago and St. Louis, and of the 
cities of the Mississippi valley south of the latter, will then be 
found competing for the supply of clothing, machinery, grocer- 
ies, etc., to the Mexican states, as they now are to the miners 
and rancheros of Colorado, Montana and New Mexico. The 
silent but certain political effect of this influence is not less 
notable than the stimulus to trade. The ores of Silver Citj and 
Pinos Altos, west of the Rio Grande, in southern New Mexico, 
are very rich, and now pay for wagoning supplies over 900 miles 
from the Gulf of Mexico at Indianola. What a development 
will be seen in such a region with the railroad finished to Albur- 
querque, or better still, with the Rio Grande branch constructed, 
and the Apaches fully disposed of. In western New Mexico 
branches will be constructed from the 35th parallel northwest- 
ward and southeastward along the slopes of the Sierra Madre. 

The transcontinental road or roads, destined sooner or later 
to traverse this Territory, will be the great instrumentalities of 
our greatness and our glory. They will be the popular vehicle 
of a very large proportion of that commerce between the two 
worlds, now carried on across the Isthmus, over the seas, and 
over the Union Pacific railroad. But aside from all this, and 
aside from our own exports and imports, tlie local traffic will be 
very considerable and important, and will occasion tap railways 
everywhere, and network the Territory with them — for there 
will have to be transported, of our own products and in our own 
commerce and business, ores in large quantities to favorable 
local points, where they may be reduced by water power or 
steam, and the products of rich placer naines from dry localities 
to water; wood and coal to the mines, reduction works and 
ranchos; timber, lumber, iron, building material, etc., to the 
mines and mills; and, when the native manufacturing resources 



PUBLIC LAND. 117 



are utilized, clothing, pottery, blankets, and so forth ; breadstutfs, 
vegetables and Iruits from the valleys to the mines and talde- 
lands; i)assenger travel, the United States mails, live stock from 
the pastoral ui)lands to the grain growing valleys and the min- 
ing districts; volcanic ash and tufi\ for manures; gypsum for the 
same and for plaster; marble, serpentine, granite, and other like 
material; mescal and pulque — and innumerable other articles 
and materials which enter into the list of necessities or luxuries 
of American life, and a great many new products peculiar to 
the combination of latitude and elevation. 



PUBLIC LAND. 

The United States surveyor general for New Mexico, 

James K. Proudfit, states that at this time there are, within 

the area of 121,201 square miles in the Territory, embracing 

in acres 77,508,(540 

Military reserves surveyed 189,485 

Indian reserves surveyed 1,752,960 

Private grants surveyed 4,377,750 

Mines and town sites surveyed 705 

Townships subdivided 4,839,480 

11,160,380 

Leaving acres unsurveyed 66,408,260 

Of the nearly five millions of acres of surveyed lands in the 
Territory indicated by "townships subdivided," but about one 
and a-half millions have ever been placed in the market for sale. | 
This has been done in a single instance, which was the sale of ' 
August, ordered by the proclamation of the President, of May, ^ 
1870 — the lands then proclaimed being those lands selected for I 
sale by the General Land Office, without any prior consultation 
with the local land officers for ascertaining in which of the sur- , 
veyed sections of the country lands were most in demand — j 
whence it resulted, of course, that much of the land offered in ' 
the sections so selected, was not only not in demand, but was i 



118 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

not public land at all, and, consequently, but little of it — 
about 33,000 acres — has been sold. We are indebted to 
Captain A. G. Hoyt, register of the United States land office 
at Santa Fe, for a memorandum statement of the localities, and 
amounts in acres of the lands thus placed in the market, and of 
the lands taken up by entry and purchase, in the several 
counties of the Territory. 

Lands Offered. 
In Mora county — on the Mora river, southeast and near 

Fort Union 23,040 

In Rio Arriba county — on the Valles mountain, near 

Baca location No. 1 4,100 

In Santa Ana county — on the Valles mountain, near 

Baca location No. 1 50,000 

In Santa Fe county — in the southern half 407,880 

In San Miguel county — 45,410 acres near Baca location 
No. 2, on the Rio Colorado, 454,915 on the Rio 
Colorado and Rio de las Conchas, and 92,475 on 
the Rio Pecos, embraoing the towns of Puerto de 

Luna and Agua Negra 592,800 

In Socorro county — on the east side of the Rio Grande 229,790 
In Lincoln county — south-east of Fort Stanton, on the 

Rio Bonito, Rio Ruidoso and Rio Hondo 323,125 

Offered lands in Territory 1,630,735 

Lands taken up by Entry and Purchase. 

In Mora county, acres 2,000 

In Santa Fe county 7,000 

In San Miguel county 22,000 

In Lincoln county 18,000 

In Colfax county 2,500 

In Dona Ana county 500 

In Grant county 1,000 

In Valencia county 5,000 

Total acres 58,000 

Two railroads — the thirty-second parallel, or Texas Pacific, 
and the thirty-fifth parallel, or Atlantic and Pacific — have each 
a land subsidy in New Mexico, the groat body of the land along 
the surveyed route, in each case, lying outside of the portions of 



PUBLIC LAND. 119 



the Territory now surveyed. The first mentioned road ha.s in 
its grant in New Mexico al)out 10,000,000, and the other about 
3,500,000 acres of land, the odd sections of the townsliips in the 
surveyed regions being already \vitlidrawn by the secretary of 
the interior from entry and sale, and the even sections declared 
subject to the laws applicable to the jmblic lands within railroad 
grants. The government is bound under the laws chartering 
the roads to survey and subdivide the regions embraced by the 
subsidies, so as to enable the companies to make available their 
landed interests. 

Of the area of the public lands in the Territory yet unsur- 
veyed, and, of course, unoffered and not disposed of, at least 
one-tenth is susceptible of cultivation, and it is capable of sus- 
taining an extremely large agricultural, pastoral and mining 
population, the actual amount of cultivable land in the valleys 
being very fertile and productive. The table-lands and plains 
are inexhaustible in pasturage, and in the mountains are 
treasures of vast stores of mineral wealth. It embraces a 
country, much of which is terra incognita, it having been but 
very partially explored, and, so far as metals are concerned, 
scarcely at all prospected. 

<<Of this vast area (of 121,201 square miles, or 77,568,640 
acres in New Mexico) the Spanish and Mexican grants, which 
will be found to be valid, it is confidently believed," says Sur- 
veyer General Proudfit, "will not exceed, including tljose sur- 
veyed, an aggregate of more than 9,000,000 or 10,000,000 acres, 
or approximately one-eight of the total territorial area. A very 
large portion of the unsurveyed and unclaimed public domain of 
the Territory is fine agricultural, grazing and timber lands, all 
of which are increasing in value and desirability as the prospect 
of the railroad communication with the States becomes more 
certain of fulfillment in the near future. Two of the roads which, 
it is hoped, will soon reach the Territory, and one of which — 
the Texas Pacific — is being pushed with great vigor, have large 
land grants in this district, and will expect, as will settlers, a 
survey of the lands along their lines. Heretofore, and for 
various reasons, but principally because the Territory and its 
people have been persistently misrepresented and misunder- 
stood, but small ai)propriations have been made for public sur- 
veys. A good deal of the ignorance in regartl to this region ha.s 



120 brevoort's new Mexico. 

been propagated by interested parties intentionally, and a good 
deal of it by those who were uninformed and did not seek to 
learn, and what has given the bad impression of the Territory a 
great deal of its weight is the fact that among the latter class 
were certain government oflScials whose business it was to learn 
the truth, and state facts. During my residence in the Terri- 
tory, my travels have amounted to more than one thousand miles 
in different parts thereof. I have done this traveling mainly 
that I might learn by actual observation the nature and capa- 
bilities of the country, and the characteristics of the people. I 
know that the Territory is well deserving of more liberal treat- 
ment than it has received from congress, and that, as a matter 
of business management purely, the public surveys ought to be 
rapidly prosecuted hereafter." 



PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 

The subject of Spanish and Mexican land grants in New 
Mexico is one of great importance to the welfare and progress 
of the Territory, and especially so with respect to its settling up 
by immigration. These grants have been issuing from the au- 
thorities here, to the subjects and citizens of the country since 
its first settlement by the Spaniards, and during the whole period 
of its occupation by them and the Mexicans. Soon after the 
Spanish arms in the sixteenth century penetrated and occupied 
New Mexico as one of the ultramarine possessions of the crown 
of Spain, the governors and captains general of the province — 
then pertaining to the viceroyalty of Mexico — were authorized 
and empoAvered to make concessions of land to the settlers. 
Afterwards they were made to individuals for distinguished 
loyalty to the crown and important services to the state in the 
Indian wars then harrassing the people and impeding the devel- 
opment and progress of the country, and still subsequently these 



PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 121 

concessions were uvmIc in numerous instances to tlie descendants 
of those persons wlio luid thus manifested tlieir loyalty and 
contributed their services. During the Spanish regime in New 
Mexico, as elsewhere in the INlexican viceroyalty, it was always 
the declared policy of the sovereign f/ia( the public donuiin Klioidd 
be populated and utilized through the mediun of grants of land 
to his subjects, as individuals or as communities. Afterwards, 
when the Mexican republic succeeded to the sovereignty of the 
soil, it was the declared policy of that government to encourage 
agriculture by making to its citizens and to communities liberal 
donations of the national domain for cultivation and stock rais- 
ing and also for mining purposes. 

It is said by those who ought to know, that there are very 
few, if any, spurious grants in the Territory — certainly very 
few compared with the number brought to light in California. 
Some of these grants of land are now held by our citizens, other 
grants by large and flourishing communities, and others have 
been purchased by capitalists and wealthy companies with a 
view to their settlement and application to agricultural, stock 
growing and mining uses. 

Now that predatory incursions of the wild Indians have, un- 
der the policy of the present national administration, become 
less frequent and serious, and now that the advent of railroads 
is foreseen in the near future, settlers are beginning to search 
out and locate homesteads on the public domain beyond the fron- 
tier, under the government of the United States, and on private 
grants by purchase. 

The only provision hitherto made by the Congress of the 
United States, which alone, under the constitution, has the pri- 
mary dominion and control of the soil, for the asccrtaiuiuent and 
settlement of private land claims in New Mexico, emanating 
from the former governments of the country, is the statute of 
July 22, 1854, estiiblishing the oftice of Surveyor General, and 
authorizing and requiring that officer to hear and adjudicate all 
such claims presented to him for the purpose, and report them, 
with his opinion thereon, 7>ro or con, for the final determination 
— the confirmation or rejection — of Congress. The following 
extract from the law referred to, prescribes the powers and du- 
ties of the Surveyor-General in the premises : — 

<'Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, that it shall be the duty 
of the Surveyor-General, under such instructions as may be 



122 brevoobt's new Mexico. 

given by the Secretary of the Interior, to ascertain the origin, 
nature, character and extent of all claims to lands under the 
laws, usages and customs of Spain and Mexico, and for this pur- 
pose may issue notices, summon witnesses, administer oaths, 
and do and perform all other necessary acts in the premises. He 
shall make a full report upon all such claims as originated before 
the cession of the Territory to the United States by the treaty 
of Guadaloupe Hidalgo of 1848, denoting the various grades of 
title, with his decision as to the validity or invalidity of each of 
the same under the laws, usages and customs of the country 
before its cession to the United States, and shall also make a 
report in regard to all the pueblos existing in the Territory, 
showing the extent and locality of each, stating the number of 
inhabitants in the said pueblos respectively, and the nature of 
their titles to the lands, such report to be made according to the 
form which may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, 
which report shall be laid before Congress for such action thereon 
as may be deemed just and proper, with a view to confirm bona 
fide grants and give full effect to the treaty of 1848 between the 
United States and Mexico; and until the final action of Congress 
on such claims, all lands shall be reserved from sale or other dis- 
posal by the government, and shall not be subject to the dona- 
tions granted by the previous provisions of this Act." 

The treaty of Guadaloupe Hidaigo, referred to in, and which 
gave occasion for the enactment of the foregoing section, stipu- 
lates and provides in its eighth article that: "Mexicans now 
established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and 
which remain for the future within the limits of the United 
States, as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to continue 
where they now reside, or to remove at any time to the Mexican 
Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said 
territories, or disposing thereof and removing the proceeds 
wherever they please, without their being subjected on this 
account to any contribution, tax or charge whatever. * * 

In the said territories property of every kind now belonging to 
Mexicans not established there, shall be inviolably respected. 
The present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who 
may hereafter acquire said property by contract, shall enjoy with 
respect to it guaranties equally ample as if the same belonged 
to citizens of the United States." 



PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 123 

And the troaty with INfoxico of Decembor 30, 18r)3, commonly 
kno^\n as the Mesilhi valley treaty, or Gadsden purchase, in its 
fifth article stipulates and provides that: "All the provisions of 
the eijrhth * * articles of the treaty of Guadaloupo 

Hidalfio shall apply to the territory ceded by the isrexican 
Republic in the first article of the present treaty, and to all the 
rights of persons and property, both civil and ecclesiastical, 
within the same, as fully and effectually as if the said articles 
were herein again recited and set forth." 

The law of Congress of August 4, 1854, extended the federal 
and territorial civil jurisdiction over the additional territory 
acquired by the treaty of 1853, whereby the statute whose 
eighth section we have quoted, became operative also over the 
Gadsden purchase. 

The law quoted, it is observed, prescribes no term within 
which the claims for lands under concessions emanating from the 
former governments shall be filed for adjudication: it is entirely 
optional with the claimants to present or decline to present their 
claims — and it is no doubt due mainly to this omission that com- 
paratively so few have been filed and determined. The sur- 
veyors general have several times recommended that a date be 
fixed by Congress, on or before which time all these claims shall 
be filed, else be forever barred from recognition and confirma- 
tion; and the present surveyor general proposes July 4, 1876, j 
for such prescribed date. The propriety and expediency, and j 
indeed the necessity of fixing some limit to the time wherein 
these grant claimants shall make their titles known to the gov- j 
ernment, and to the people interested in knowing which is pub- 
lie domain and which is not, are too manifest to admit of ! 
question, and too urgent to admit of delay. Congress of course j 
might in its discretion extend the term. When once estab- 
lished, however, we think the effect would be to cause nearly or 
quite all the claims to be brought forward and filed, leaving 
little reason for an extension of the filing term. 

Under the law, as it stands, about one hundred and fifty 
claims — exclusive of Pueblo grants — have been filed with the 
surveyor general. Of these some ninety have received his 
favorable, and several his unfavorable action, and been reported 
to congress; and of those reported, congress has by law confirmed 
about one half, has rejected one, has restricted two to smaller area, 



124 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

and has most of the remainder now — May, 1874 — pending before 
it in a bill for their confirmation. Of the confirmed claims about 
twenty have been surveyed and two patented,* tlie surveys all 
being executed by the government, and, in most instances, at 
its expense. Since 18G2 congress has required that the surveys, 
when made, be executed by authority of the government, but 
at the cost and expense of the grant owner— which latter 
requirement we think is a palpable violation of the spirit and 
intent, and indeed of the letter of the "contribution, tax or 
charge" clause of article VIII of the treaty of Guadaloupe 
Hidalgo, before quoted, and it has certainly had the eff"ect of 
preventing the survey and segregation from the public domain 
of numerous confirmed grants in this Territory, and in the 
ascertaining and fixing of whose locus and area the government, 
which is necessarily ignorant of both, is at least as much inter- 
ested as the land owner himself, who, of course, knows where 
his tract is, and which are its boundaries, and what its extent. 

The Indian <<pueblo grant" claims constitute a series of 
claims distinct from that of the "private claims." They are 
community grants, designated at the surveyor general's office as 
A, B, C, etc., down to T, inclusive, and have all been reported 
and confirmed, and many of them been surveyed and, in 1864, 
patented by the government. 

In neither class of claims has any fraudulent one been 
detected and exposed; and, indeed, very few spurious claims, 
if any at all, are believed to exist in the Territory — the low 
value of lands here up to this time being an insufficient incentive 
to the fabrication of spurious muniments; thougli, as our lands, 
with the advent of railroads, capital and immigration, increase 
in value, the incentive to their fabrication will correspondingly 
augment, and it may be that New Mexico will then rival Cali- 
fornia in the production of fraudulent land grants. For, as Sur- 
veyor General Proudfit remarks, "it is becoming known that 
the country enjoys a magnificent climate, that all its valleys are 
well adapted to a variety of crops, and that its mesas or table- 
lands are the finest stock- grazing regions in the world. Stock 

" Recently the General Land Office declined to patent surveyed confirmed 
private land claims in New Mexico, on tiie ground that the grant itself was the 
equivalent of a United States patent. . But on appeal to the secretary of the 
Interior, and reference of the question by him to the attorney general, the 
ruling was reversed, and patents will issue to the owners of all such claims. 



PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 125 

feeds the year round upon the ju'rama and other nutritious {,'rasseH; 
and the winters are so niikl and etiuahle, and comparatively 
stormless, that stock needs little or no care, except herding, to 
prevent straying or other loss. In view of these and other con- 
siderations, there is a large and increasing call for public surveys, 
very many preferring to obtain their land direct from the 
government, instead of attempting to purchase in small quanti- 
ties from grant owners. The impression which has i)revaili'd 
in official circles at Washington that all, or nearly all, the Terri- 
tory that is of any value was claimed under or covered by grants, 
is erroneous and without foundation in fact." 

In the adjudication of land titles in New Mexico held under 
concession from either of the former governments, the stipu- 
lations and the principles of the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, the 
model international compact of the age, with respect to landed 
property having a status at its date, enter and largely govern in 
their determination. Our government in deciding upon the 
validity of these grants always appears to have been actuated by 
the most liberal principles, as evidenced both in the legislation of 
congress and in the decisions of the supreme court concerning 
them. If the grants were incipient and inchoate at the date of 
the change of national sovereignty under the treaty of Guadaloupe 
Hidalgo, or if acquired in good faith, though imperfect in form, 
or defective in requisites not absolutely essential, they are recog- 
nized and confirmed. The claimant therefore under one of 
these old grants, though he hold in good faith but the color of title, 
may rely with confidence upon the government for an equitable 
and generous consideration of his claim. 

As showing the large authority and powers exercised in New 
Mexico by the governors and captains general under the vice- 
royalty, and by the governors and political chiefs under the 
subsequent different governments of Mexico in the disposal of 
the royal and national domain, then almost a1)soIutely useless , 
and witliout value, in this distant section of ^Mexico (the bound- 
aries and limits of the tracts granted being often described 
simply as from mountain to mountain, and from river to river), 
we here insert extracts from two decisions of the United States 
surveyor general for New Mexico, made upon private land 
claims Nos. 4 and 17, adjudicated by him in 185G and 1857, and 
both of which — each for at least a million acre tract — were 



126 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



approved by him. We believe it is a settled principle that the 
official acts of an officer are the acts of his government, under 
whose laws he officiates, and hold good until duly annulled. 
And if the principle in international law that a person exercising 
public authority represents X)ro tanto his government, which is 
but the embodiment in an international sense of all the employes 
and persons exercising that authority, be the correct and binding 
principle, then the facts stated by the surveyor general in the 
extracts mentioned become an important consideration in con- 
nection with the adjudication of our large land grants, since 
these are to be dealt with not under the provisions of our 
national constitution and laws, but under the stipulations and 
guaranties of that "higher law," the treaty. 

"At the period (1843) when this grant was made, the 
province of New Mexico had just emerged from a series of 
revolutions and civil commotions which had caused the general 
government of the republic to confer upon the governor of the 
province extraordinary and almost absolute power in all things 
relating to the domestic affairs and internal government of the 
province. Under this authority and the extraordinary powers 
so vested in him this grant is purported to have been made." 

"The supreme authorities of the remote provinces of New 
Spain — afterwards the republic of Mexico — exercised from time 
immemorial certain prerogatives and powers which, although 
not positively sanctioned by congressional enactments, were 
universally conceded by the Spanish and Mexican governments; 
and there being no evidence that these prerogatives and powers 
were revoked or repealed, by the supreme authorities, it is to 
be presumed that the exercise of them was lawful. The sub- 
ordinate authorities of the provinces implicity obeyed these 
orders of the governors, which were continued for so long a 
period, until they became the universal custom or unwritten 
law of the land wherein they did not conflict with any subse- 
quent congressional enactment. Such is the principle sanctioned 
by the Supreme court of the United States, as expressed in the 
case of Fremont versus the United States (17 Howard, page 
542), which decision now governs all cases of a similar nature." 

In concluding our chapter upon private land claims in New 
Mexico, we present the following article, written at our request 



PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 127 

by Judge Joab Houghton, of Santa Fe, who has resided in the 
Territory for more than thirty years, and who duiing that time 
has held here the offices of United States vice-consul and com- 
mercial agent in 1844 (before the conquest), cliief justice of the 
provincial territorial government in 1840, register of th(; United 
States land office in 1861, and associate justice of the supreme 
court of Xew ^Mexico in 18G5, and who is now one of the lead- 
ing practicing lawyers of the Territory: — 

The i)eople of New Mexico have just ground for complaint, 
not only on account of the course of procedure adopted by the 
administrative officers of the Land Department of the govern- 
ment respecting their grants of land derived from their former 
government, the Republic of Mexico, but also the evidently 
erroneous, if not unconstitutional legislation of Congress in as- 
suming to cut down and curtail the area and extent of these 
grants in several instances to less amount and extent than that 
ceded by the government of Mexico, and in which they 
have been placed in judicial possession by the legal officers of 
that government years before the acquisition of the Territory 
by the United States, under the treaty of 1848, between the two 
governments. Such legislation has rot only operated oppressively 
and injuriously on the interests of the numerous holders and 
occupants of these grants, but upon the prosperity of the whole 
people of New Mexico, by creating doubt and confusion as to all 
titles to lands in the acquired Territory of New Mexico, granted 
to them or their predecessors as citizens of the Republic of 
Mexico; and by them held and possessed as bona Jicle grants, and 
as such considered and respected by the Government of Mexico 
up to the date of the transfer of her sovereignty over the Terri- 
tory, to the United States. That the Government of Mexico so 
held and respected these grants of land to her citizens, and that 
she considered them segregated from her public domain, and as 
private property, lawfully in the possession of the grantees, and 
their legal representatives, is conclusively shown by the safe- 
guard thrown around these private vested rights of her citizens 
inhabiting the ceded Territory at the date of the Treaty of Ces- 
sion, in Article VIII of that Treaty— the Treaty of Guadaloupe 
Hidalgo, of February 2, 1848 — one the following stipulations: 

<< Mexicans now established in the Territories previously be- 
longing to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the 



128 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

limits of the United States, as defined by the present Treaty, 
shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to return at 
any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property they 
possess in said Territories, or by disposing thereof, and re- 
moving the proceeds whenever they please, without their being 
subjected on this account to any contribution, tax or charge, 
whatever." 

<<In said territories joroper^t/ o/ every kind, now belonging to 
Mexicans not established there, should be inviolably respected. 
The present owners, the heirs of them, and all Mexicans who 
may hereafter acquire said property by contract, should enjoy 
with respect to it guarantees equally as ample as if the same 
belonged to citizens of the United States." And in Article 9: 
" Mexicans * "^ not preserving the character of citizens 
of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what is stipulated 
in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the United 
States, and be admitted * * to the enjoyment of all tlie 
rights of citizens of the United States, * * and in the 
mean time shall be maintained, and in the free, enjoyment of 
their liberty and property." 

It is evident that these solemn treaty stipulations, agreed to, 
signed and ratified by both tlie high contracting parties, mean 
exactly what they state — nothing more, nor nothing less, Which 
is, that " property of every kind now (at the date of the Treaty) 
belonging to Mexicans" must be inviolably respected, with equal 
guarantees, as if the same belonged to citizens of the United 
States, whether retaining the character of Mexican citizens, or 
becoming citizens of the United States, and to be equally pro- 
tected in the enjoyment of the same. 

Is it not clear and beyond doubt that Mexico, in making this 
treaty, meant that the whole property her citizens in these ceded 
territories had and then possessed under her government and 
authority, should be thus protected and guaranteed, and that the 
United States also thus understood it, and by agreeing to, and 
ratifying the treaty, pledged the nation's faith to the fulfillment 
of the same? 

By what right, therefore, can Congress, in disregard of the 
solemn stipulations of this treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo — the 
highest law of the land, under the constitution, in all things to 



riUVATi: LAND CLAIMS. 129 

which it pertains — by its legislation alter, amend or add to, the 
meaning, intent or obligation of that treaty, or in any way 
diminish, curtail or destroy the i)r()pprty, wlietluT land or other 
property, which the government of the United States is under 
obligations to guarantee and protect to the possessors? Would 
it not bo a stain upon the nation's faith, and an outrageous inva- 
sion of the private vested rights of these ac<j aired Mexican c if izens 
and their heirs and assigns, to legislate a proviso into the treaty 
of Quadaloupe Hidalgo. « That they shall be protected in the 
property they possessed at the date of the treaty: provided no 
one individual claimed more than eleven square leagues of land, 
eleven thousand sheep, eleven hundred mules and asses, and 
other property in proportion? Yet upon this principle Congress 
has legislated on the land grants in New Mexico, ignoring its 
own legislation in the Act of July 22, 1854, establishing the 
principal upon which the private land claims of New Mexico 
should be investigated and decided as to the validity of their 
title ''under the laws, usages and customs of the country, before 
the cession to the United Stales," and reported to Congress for 
confirmation, when found to be bona fide grants made by Spain 
or Mexico, and lawfully in possession of the grantees, or their 
legal representatives at the date of the treaty. 

Congress has assumed the position and functions of a court, 
for the correction of the errors of the Mexican government, in 
the execution and practice of her own laws, In the granting and 
distribution of her own lands, and in the segregation of the 
same from her own public domain, and has in one or two 
instances legislated to the effect, that neither the government of 
Mexico, nor the governors and legislative assemblies of New 
Mexico, late a department of the Republic of Mexico, and acting 
under its authority and laws, had a right, under the colonization 
laws of Mexico of 1824, and regulations of 1828, to grant to one 
individual colonist more than eleven square leagues of land, and 
that these colonization laws ai)ply to all land grants in New Mex- 
ico made by the government of Mexico since the year 1824, and 
that therefore all grants of land made during that period, in 
excess of eleven square leagues to any grantee in New Mex- 
ico, was unlawful as to the excess, but good as to the eleven 
leagues, and notwithstanding the faith of the government so 
decidedly pledged in the treaty to protect and guarantee " prop, 
erty of every kind" in the possession of the inhabitants of the 

9 



130 beevoort's new Mexico. 

acquired territories at the date of the treaty — declares in its 
capacity of a court for the correction of the errors of adminis- 
tration of law by the preceding government, that they will cor- 
rect this error, and by legislation cut down and curtail such grant 
to eleven leagues to each grantee. 

But let us examine the colonization law of 1824 — especially 
as to its applicability to land grants made by the Eepublic of 
Mexico in her province of New Mexico. In the examination of 
law it is the fair and proper principle to look at the w/ioie laic, 
and construe it according to its general interest and purpose. 

Section first of the decree (of the Mexican Congress) of 
August 10, 1824, respecting colonization, is as follows: "The 
Mexican nation promises to those foreigners who may come to 
eMablish themselves in its territory, security in the persons and 
property, provided they subject themselves to the laws of the 
countr3%" 

The 2nd section says, << The objects of this law are those 
national lands which are neither private property, nor belong to 
any corporation or pueblo, and can therefore be colonized." 

Section 4 says, "Those territories comprised within twentj^ 
leagues of the boundaries of any foreign nations, or within ten 
leagues of the sea coast, cannot be colonized without the previ- 
ous approval of the supreme genej'al executive power." 

The 12th section of the decree restricts the ownership of one 
person (colonist) to eleven square leagues in all. 

Now is it not sufficiently and clearly declared in this decree, 
that its sole and only object and purpose is to colonize " those for. 
eigners who may come to establish themselves, etc., etc.," and 
the general intent to restrict the granting of lands to f.oeeigneks? 

It will be seen that the restrictions as to locality and quantity 
are such as exclude foreigners from settling on the sea coast and 
frontiers of the Republic, and from acquiring such positions and 
strongh<,lds as to endanger the country in the event of foreign 
war. This was evidently the whole intent and scope of this 
decree of the Mexican Congress. It is evident that it was not 
applicable, or intended to apply to grants made to Mexican citi- 
zens. The spirit, intent or practice under this decree does not 
sustain the idea that the liei)ublic of Mexico in regulating dona- 
tions of her public domain to foreign colonists, intended to restrict 



PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 131 

her right of sovereignty in the granting of her own puMic 
domain to her own citizens, noris such a restriction atallsustainod 
by the pracfice. 

Tlio daily practice of the Mexican government in all tlie 
states and provinces of the Republic since the acquisition of its 
independence of Spain, has been to grant to her own peoi»le the 
lands petitioned for by them, irif/iin certain bounds and natural 
land marks, regardless of quantity or extent of area, or measure- 
nicnt of leagues, or restrictions mentioned in the decree of 1824. 

The records of every state and territory of the Republic of 
Mexico, the re^cords of New Mexico, show the same practice in 
the granting of lands by her authorities duly empowered to do 
so, by the general government of Mexico, and further, no grant 
thus made in New Mexico, from 1821 to 1848, has been vacated or 
annulled bg either the general government of Mexico, or the local 
government of Xew 3fexico acting under the authority of that 
general government. It is moreover a fact shown by the record, 
that no grant of land has ever been made in New Mexico — with 
any — the slightest regard to the decree of 1824, as to quantity of 
land or form of grant; and that with the exception of some ten 
or twelve grants, of all those which have been investigated, 
ajjproved and confirmed, under the Act of the United States 
Congress of July 22, 1854, no mention is made of leagues or 
measured distances, or square leagues, except in one instance. 
The large majority of land grants in New Mexico made by the 
governments of Spain and Mexico, are described by natural 
objects cis land marks, or artificial monuments, erected for the 
purpose by the officer placing the grantees in possession. 

The facts therefore stand clearly proven, that in practice, 
neither the government of Mexico, nor the local officers of her 
province of New ^Mexico, ever considered the restrictions con- 
tained in the Mexican Congressional decree of 1824, respecting 
colonization, as in any way applying to, or restricting them in th(> 
granting of lands to citizens of the Republic, and that tlie 
Republic of Mexico made no mistake in holding and protecting 
these grants as valid, vested, private rights, around which she 
attempted to extend her protection, in making the solemn treaty 
stipulations contained in the articles of the treaty of (Juad;iloupe 
Hidalgo above cited. 

Congress therefore, in constituting itself a high court for the 



132 BEEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

correction of errors of the government of the Republic of Mex- 
ico in granting her own lands to her own citizens, prior to tlie 
treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, stands tlius: 

1st. It finds no errors to correct that could possibly be 
acknowledged as such by the principal party in interest, the 
government of Mexico having acknowledged and sanctioned, by 
long and continued practice, the granting of her own lands to 
her own citizens, greatly in excess of eleven square leagues. 

2d. If such error existed in the execution of her own laws 
by the government of Mexico, Congress has no right under the 
constitution, the treaty, or the laws of nations, to correct it, as 
it cannot be a court of review over the administration by a for- 
eign power of its own laws. 

3d. Congress by such legislation violates the nation's faith, 
pledged to the Republic of Mexico to protect and guarantee to 
the Mexican inhabitants of the acquired territories the property 
in land, and all other property which had been in their posses- 
sion under their own government, and remained theirs in legal 
possession, acknowledged by their government at the date of 
the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo — not a pcD^t of that property, 
or such jiart as Congress may decide that the Republic of INIexico 
had a right to give — but the ivhole lyropertij in the hands and 
possession of Mexican citizens, with the sanctionof the Mexican 
government at the date of the treaty. 

4th. The result of such legislation, if carried into effect, 
would be an inexcusable and unwarranted invasion of private 
rights, destruction of private interests — disreeard of treaties, 
national and international law, heretofore unparalleled in our 
national legislation, or in the treatment of all civilized and 
enlightened nations, of the inhabitants of territories acquired 
either by conquest, treaty or purchase. 

5th. Congress by such legislation assumes to reverse or ignore 
the decisions of the supreme court of the United States in a 
large number of cases, arising in acquired territories since the 
acquisition of Louisiana and Florida, and especially those arising 
the recently acquired territory of California, in regard Ho the 
extent of grants of land. I will here refer to a few of them 
only. 



PRIVATK LAND CLAIMS. 133 

In the case of Iligueras vs. The United States^ 5th Wallace, 
8*27, the Supreme Court says: "Thnt when the grant is made by 
spoiific boundaries, the grantee is entitled to the entire tract 
described." 

United States vs. Sutherland, 19 Howard, pages 303, 365, the 
court says: « Since the country (California) has become part of 
of the United States, these extensive rancho grants, whicli then 
had little value, have now become very large and very valuable 
estates. They have been denounced as enormous monopolies, 
princedoms, etc., and this court has been urged to deny to the 
grantees, what it is assumed the former government had too 
liberallii and lavifihli/ granted. This rhetoric might have a just 
influence when urged to those who have a right to give or refuse. 
But the United States have bound themselves by a treaty to 
acknowledge and protect all bona fde titles granted by the previ- 
ous government, and this court has no discretion to enlarge or 
curtail such grants, to suit our own sense of propriety, or defeat 
just claimi<,~ howQVQT extensive, by stringent technical rules of 
construction, to which they were not originally subjected." 

United States vs. Moreno, 3d Wallace, pages 478, 491: Broad 
vs. Tedeijy the Supreme Court held that "the cession of Cali- 
fornia to the United States did not impair the right^s of private 
property — these rights are held sacred by the laws of nations, 
and protected by the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo." 

In the case of The United States vs. PeraUa, et a^, 19 Howard, 
p. 347, the court says: "We have frequently decided that the 
Ijublic acts of public officers, purporting to be exercised in an 
official capacity, and by public authority, shall not be presumed 
to be usurped; but that a legitimate authority has been previ- 
ously given or subsequently ratified." 

To these references to the opinion and decisions of the United 
States Supreme Court I will add the remark, that in no case 
taken by appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States from 
any of the acquired territories, hiis the title to lands under a 
grant from Spain or Mexico, in other respects unobjectionable, 
been held void by that court, upon the sole grounrl that the 
quantity of land granted was in excess of eleven square leagues, 
or on the ground of any (juantity of land it might contain within 
the boundaries described in the papers of the grant. 



134 BKEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

IRRIGATION. 

In the United States, east of about the 103d meridian of 
longitude, west from Greenwich, irrigation is rarely resorted to, 
all the cereals growing to maturity without its aid. But west of 
that meridian to the Sierra Nevada it is essential to a sure and an 
abundant crop. Though it is viewed in the states to the east of 
us as an unnatural, a costly, and an unnecessary auxiliary to 
nature, and is unpopular, the new great west hereaway believes, 
and from experience has found to the contrary. It is an im- 
portant and profitable part of our system of agriculture. To be 
understood and appreciated it must be seen in practice and 
through its effects. It cost less in money and labor than does 
clearing the lands in the eastern states, or draining them in the 
western. It fertilizes the land, the water being charged with 
fertilizing matter, and keeps up its producing capacity thereby. 
It saves all loss of crop by drouth or irregular rainfall. It enables 
the farmer to regulate his work to his will and convenience, 
a given amount of labor and attention to his fields thus going 
much further than . when the work presses at irregular and 
uncertain times. And it often doubles or quadruples the crop 
cultivated by its means. 

The United States surveyor general in a communication to 
the General Land Office of June 25, 1868, in writing of the 
barrens and desert lands in New Mexico, and the means of irri- 
gating and reclaiming them, says: — 

'< Properly so called there are neither barren nor desert lands 
to any great extent in this district. The Territory is i:)roperly 
divided between valleys, which can be irrigated by the streams 
flowing through them, mesas or table-lands — under which 
designation I class all the lands not mountain or irrigable val- 
leys — and mountains. In a communication to the General Land 
Office in 1866 I estimated the arable lands of this district at 
one million acres. The term arable was used as synonymous 
with irrigable, as no lauds can be cultivated here with any 
certainty of raising a crop without irrigation. There is a con- 
siderable rainfall during the months of July and August, but 
there is so little rain during April, May and June that without 
irrigation crops will ordinarily perish. 

"The method of irrigation is as follows: — Ditches or canals 
are excavated, and the water conveyed from the stream with 



IRBIGATION. 135 



just fiill enough to preserve the full quantum or volume doomed 
necessary, and diverging from the stream as the surface of the 
land will permit, so as to include all tho lands l)ol()VV, i. e. 
between the greatest elevation to wliiuli the diteh can be carried 
along the tract to be irrigated and tlie stream* The land is 
prepared for planting by laying it off in beds or lots averaging 
in size, according as the surface is level or otherwise, from a 
sixteontli part of an acre to two or three acres. Around each of 
these beds — which are required to be level or nearly so — there 
is raised a light embankment, six or eight indies above the 
level, clearing a shallow acecjuia between, through which the 
water is drawn, and from which the land is flooded to the depth 
of two or three inches, as often as required for the growth of 
the crop. The water being let through tlio embankment as 
above, and the beds covered to the proper depth, the embank- 
ment is again closed, and the water left to be absorbed by the 
soil. The small irrigating ditches above described communicate 
with the -main ditch, the ucequia madre, but tlie water is only 
suffered to flow in them when needed for the irrigation of the 
land which they divide or to which they lead. To mature a 
crop of corn, wheat, barley or oats, the land should be irrigated 
ordinarily once in ten to fourteen days, vegetables a little oftener; 
but during the months of July and August the rains supply 
much of the necessary moisture, so that irrigation during those 
months, or a portion of them, is often unnecessary. It may 
be proper to state thfi amount of irrigable land is only 
limited by the amount of water in the stream — even the Rio 
Grande might all be used in the irrigation of the lands in 
its valley. The water supplied by irrigation not only affords 
the necessary moisture for the growth of vegetation, but also 
enriches the soil by depositing the sedimentary matter held in 
solution, and thus lands which have been under annual cultiva- 
tion for more than two hundred years still produce excellent 
crops, without ever having been manured or restored by other 
means. It will be observed that to prepare land for planting, 
and to cultivate it properly by moans of irrigation, requires 
very nmcli more labor than where Providence sends the early 
and the latter rain; but it has its advantages also. If the farmer 
has a never-failing stream of water with which to irrigate his 
land, his crop need not be cut short by drouth, nor injured by 
excessive rains. 



136 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

<'The mesas or table-lauds include fully two-thirds, and 
perhaps three quarters of the entire surface of New Mexico. 
The greater part of the land produces excellent grass for pasture, 
and, with irrig^ation and cultivation, would produce all of the 
cereals and vegetables equally well with the valleys; but for the 
most part they have so great an elevation above the streams 
that, if there were surplus water after irrigating the valleys, 
they could not be reached by irrigating canals. The only hope 
therefore of reclaiming the table-lands of New Mexico is by 
means of artesian wells. ***** * ]n^o 
other attempt (than that made by the general government, and 
suspended in 185 8-' 59-' 60, on the staked plain, and on the mesa 
twenty-five miles south of Santa Fe*) has been made in New 
Mexico to obtain water by sinking artesian wells; and the 
question as to the practicability of obtaining water for irrigation 
by this means is yet to be decided. The soil upon the greater 
part of these table-lands, or plains, as they are sometimes called, 
is good. The vegetable growth is grama gra^s of two or three 
varieties, the palmilla, amole or soapweed, many varieties of 
the cactus, and in places the artemesia. Scattering piiion and 
cedar, and in the south a species of the live oak, cover con- 
siderable districts, connecting generally with the forests of the 
mountains." 

The surveyor general in his annual report for 1873, speaking 
of irrigation, says: — 

"This is a subject of first class importance to this as to the 
other Territories. Considerable attention is bestowed upon it 
by prominent citizens. * * * * * * It is 
proposed, I believe, to digest a plan to be laid before congress, 
to grant some portions of the public domain to aid the work. It 
would be very proper and politic for the general government to 
do this, on the same principle that it gives the swainps and 
overflowed lands to the States in which they lie to be by them 
reclaimed. The principle, I suppose, is the same — but in one 
case there is a troublesome surplus of water, and in the other a 
dearth of that useful fluid. If it is proper to give wet land 
PROVIDED WE WILE DRY IT, it is siirely right to give us the 
DRY LAND IF WE WILL WET it! With an efficient system 
of irrigation in the valleys of our streams, the finest of crops 

* And we may add except that made in 1870 at, the Placer mines, south of 
Santa Fe, and after partial success suspended for want of capital. 



IRRIGATION. 137 



can 1)0 raist'd, and with moro certainty as to thoir jjrowth, and 
with more safety in harvesting, tlian vviiere the reliance is 
entirely upon the fall of rain." 

In the sug'i,^'stion of the surveyor jj:eneral, which we have 
emphasized in the foregoing, we tind conibini'd an excellent 
instance of official wit and a laconic array of solid argument. 
The plan which he says it was proposinl to digest and |)resent 
to congress for its sanction is now pending before that l)ody in 
the form of a bill for reclaiming and utilizing by means of irri- 
gation the vast fertile table-lands west of the Rocky mountains. 
We trust the bill will be enacted into a law. In this Territory 
the subject of conveying the necessary volumes of water from 
the rivers to the fertile uplands and rich gold placers, with the 
purpose of irrigating those, and washing the dirt of these, has 
received some attention. And in this connection we may 
mention that an estimate has been made of the practicability 
and cost of carrying four thousand inches of water from the 
Pecos river to the gold placers south of Santa F6. The subject 
was considered, and the estimate made by very competent par- 
ties, and by them it is believed to be quite feasible to take a 
ditch out of the Pecos, sufficiently high to carry 4,000 inches of 
water, to a point which will give an altitude of GOO to 800 feet 
higher than the placers. From this terminus of the ditch, a 
distance of about 35 miles, iron pipe to convey the above amount 
of water is estimated to cost S300,000; with the proposed head 
20 hydraulics could be supplied, washing an immense amount 
of rich pay-dirt, and uncovering, we may say, sufficient gold to 
pay expense of ditch and pipe in six months, and eventually 
uncovering millions of dollars' worth of gold, and besides the 
thousands of tons of rich gold lu-aring tiuartz, copper and silver 
ores it would bring to light, and give employment to a large 
number of miners. 



138 brevoort's new Mexico. 

INDIANA IN THE TERRITORY. 
Besides the seven thousand peaceable, and peaceful and hon- 
est and industrious Pueblo Indians in their villages in New 
Mexico, there are nearly twice as many <' wild" Indians — sav- 
ages who quite until the recent inauguration of the present 
reservation policy of President Grant, had been for centuries the 
scourge of New Mexico and the New Mexicans. They depre- 
dated upon life and property continually, extensively and every- 
where. This country has witnessed and experienced, genera- 
tion in and generation out, an incessant war of races between 
the white man and the red, the latter continually raiding for 
blood and booty upon the frontier settlements, and the denizens 
of these as often jjursuing him for revenge to his inaccessible 
mountain fastnesses. It was so alike under the Spanish, the 
Mexican and the American governments; and while this relation 
of the two great classes of the inhabitants of the Territory con- 
tinued, of course there was no encouragement for the develop- 
ment of the resources of the country, and indeed hardly a 
motive for the acquisition or accumulation of perishable estate 
or for the utilization or improvement of landed property. 

The wild Indians of New Mexico, some of whom still roam 
and prey, but most of whom are now gathered upon reservations, 
are in name and about in number as follows: 

Navajos ' 8,500 

Apaches 4,500 

Utes* 1,500 

^14,500 

The Navajos being a tribe without subdivisions, the Apaches 
being subdivided into Jicarillas, Gilas and Mescaleros, and the 
Utes into Capotes, Wemenuches and Mohuaches. 

All these are the red rascals who, together with the frequent 
assistance in earlier times of their confederates in crime and 
thievery, the Comanches and Kiowas, so long depredated upon 
the lives and property of our people. But their day has gone, 
though the savages themselves remain; and while the land yet 
stinks of their presence, we shall here say a few words concern- 
ing them and their management. 

•■' The proper spelling and pronunciation of the word is Yuta — the Americans 
liaving corrupted and spoiled it with « Utah," aud then annihilated it with 
" Ute." The Territory of Utah has a hideous misnomer. 



INDIANS IN THE TERRITORY. 189 



For the last year or two all has been comparatively speaking 
quiet in New Mexico, with the exception of tlie Apaclics in tlie 
south western part of tlie Territory, who are fast coniirif^ undor 
the banner of peace, the result of the fonuidahle and just chas- 
tisement they are receiving at the hands of General Crook — 
something they havedeserved for many years. The d('i)rcdating, 
unsettled state of atfairs in certain localities instead of having 
been quashed and silenced, have been buoyed up by the mal- 
action, and utter ignorance of authority appointed to s(>Iect 
reservations and to control the Indians. We refer to the (Quaker 
policy, the Collier and Howard humbugs whose ignorance in 
such matters must cost the government millions of dollars; the 
great and fatal mistake of Howard in selecting an Indian reser- 
vation, one of the boundary lines of which being the national 
boundary between the United States and the Republic of Mex- 
ico, is preposterous. The money consideration of this blunder 
is slowly but surely coming to light, and will l)e enormous in 
amount. The states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango, 
have in a manner been in part devastated and ruined from the 
forays of the Apaches of New Mexico and Arizona, and well 
may we say that the money consideration will be enormous, 
when the Republic of Mexico shall have justice meted out to her 
from the treasury of the United Suites to cover these depreda- 
tions. 

Why the government should select and send out such men, 
who know nothing whatever of the Indian character, or of the 
wants and wishes of the people of the Territory, we cannot 
imagine, unless it be for favor to one, whilst thousands suffer the 
consequences. Why does not the government leave to the peo- 
ple of the Territory, to her experienced men, who are identified 
with the country, the selection of proper reservations, in proper 
localities, and why are not these Indians placed under experi- 
enced men, who are numbered by scores in the territories? To 
the contrary, inexperienced, unlitted strangers are sent out to 
dictate to the people where the Indian shall be placed, regardless 
of the consequences to the inhabitants of the Territory — no won- 
der we have trouble. The cause of the constant complaint from 
both parties is ai)parent, and it is high time it should be reme- 
died, before blood and massacre pay the tribute. In other times 
of our recollection, Indian men, or in other words, men of expe- 
rience in Indian matters, were called Indian men, and were 



140 brevoort's new mexico. 

selected to make important treaties and demands, who appeared 
upon the council grounds, backed in force by the military power, 
and demands made which were always acceded to by the Indian. 
Now the style is to ask the Indian to dictate his own terms, as 
in the Iloward-Cachise case. After thirty years experience on 
the frontiers, several of which were spent with dilferent tribes 
of Indians, we are prepared to say this: First, it is essentially 
necessary and all important to whale them without mercy, and 
until they crawl upon their hands and knees and beg for peace, 
and be sure there is no deception, or in other words, possuming. 
Then place them on reservations, disarm and dismount them 
completely, make it the penalty of death to be seen off the res- 
ervation; likewise to the white man who is caught upon it with- 
out permission after well defined boundaries are established and 
constantly proclaimed, with a double line reservation, or a strip 
of land five miles wide as neutral ground, around the reservation, 
to be seen upon which the penalty shall.be death; give them a 
sufficient number of breeding cattle and sheep to warrant the 
yearly increase cannot be consumed by them after breeding five 
years. In the mean time feed them high with flour, bacon, 
grease, sugar and coffee and meat, and after about two years of 
such feeding they will die off faster than they can be killed off 
any other way in a christian like manner. After five years, if they 
have not learned to raise wheat and corn, let them subsist on 
meat alone, not allowing them to waste any under severe penal- 
ties, or if they have corn and wheat, have it made into flour and 
meal, not allowing them to manufacture the grain into fizwin, 
upon which the rascals get continually drunk. Let the military 
arm of power control Indians and reservations, use the black 
snake whip freely on the lazy, indolent characters, and make 
them git to the herd or work, and you will soon have no idlers, 
but a peaceable, docile lot of aborigines in camp. 

Our idea of a reservation for the Ute Indians, now occupying 
the northwestern part of New Mexico, the southwestern part of 
Colorado, and the southeastern part of Utah, would be a point 
below the junction of Green and Grand rivers, making the Colo- 
rado river of the west the western boundary of said reservation, 
selecting on the north and south, at a suitable distance, one each 
of the numerous immensely deep chasms which run from the 
plains on the east into the Colorado river, and on the east a line 



INDIANS IN TUE TERRITORY. 141 

of military works sufficient to puard that line alone. Here the 
western boundary of the reservation, the eailon of the Colorado 
river, is impassable for man or beast; on the north and south the 
boundaries are a species of awfully sul)lime, deep, rugj^ed, almost 
bottomless chasms, and as difficult to cross as the cafion of the 
Colorado above referred to. Here is a place for a reservation 
where no white settler will venture for the next century; where 
the Indian can find game for time iudeflYiite, and be entirely out 
of the way of the immense immigration whicli is flowing west, 
and which is not unlike the tidal wave of the ocean — every 
obstacle in its way, particularly the Indian, will be crushed and 
exterminated, if not removed in time. 

Every article of merchandise furnished them, viz: blankets, 
different sizes, coarse cloth and indigo blue merrimac prints, 
whicli are really the onbj three articles they require, should be 
manufactured expressly of some peculiar pattern, and the words 
Indian Department worked into the material in large letters, 
the hoes, spades, knives, and such articles should also be stamped 
in the same way, .and a law made, making it an offence 
punishable by imprisonment five years at hard labor for any 
person to have in his or her possession any of the above articles. 
With such a policy we would have no more trouble with wild 
Indian tribes, reduce the cost of maintaining them several 
millions of dollars, with a sure and certain prospect, a fact 
beyond doubt, that they would after five years subsist themselves 
from off the increase of their cattle and sheep herds, and have a 
surplus of beef and mutton to turn over to the government 
yearly for use of the troops, j«id in payment of their annuities 
in merchandise; we could unite at great length x\\xn\ the advan- 
tages of such a policy, and show its real merits; we niight also 
make mention of the reservation selected for Jicarilla Apaches. 
The al)solute and monstrous outrage here committed upon the 
inhabitants of the Territory, and the unfitness of the location 
for the Apaches — but we stay further comment — the Indians 
have l)een humored to such an extent that nothing but a sound 
thrashing will l)ring them to reason, subjection and resj)ect, and 
that time may come the present season from all appearances. 

In writing of the New Mexico Indian, it is pleasant to turn 
from the wild savage to the gentle and meritorious Pueblo. The 
Pueblos, like the Israelites, are a *' peculiar people." They 



142 bbevoort's new mi;xico. 

number in the Territory about seven thousand, all of them the 
inhabitants of well constructed villages, and of comfortable 
dwellings therein, the cultivators of the soil, and the growers of 
live stock. They were living in towns when first discovered 
by the Spaniards.* The testimony of the earliest explorers — 
Cabeza de Vaea, Bastaneda and Coronado — is conclusive upon 
this point. In the year 1G80 they revolted against their Spanish 
oppressors in the country, and aided, as it may be supposed, by 
the wild Indians, killed or drove them all out of the province. 
The re-conquest was not complete until the year 1693; but in 
1689 the governor and captain general, Domingo Jironza Petriz 
de Cruzate, issued from El Paso to all the pueblos, except that of 
Sandia, which was established since (in 1748), a paper recognizing 
their resi)ective claims to the lands occupied by them — in some 
cases granting them certain limits, in others simply admitting 
and conceding the limits claimed by the pueblo. 

The pueblo Indians of New Mexico live entirely by agricul- 
tural pursuits. They have small flocks of sheep and goats, and 
herds of cattle and horses, which they pasture upon that part of 
their lands unfit for cultivation. The flocks are always attended 
by pastores who drive them to the pasture grounds in the 
morning, and return them to the village for safety at night. 
The milk of the ewes and goats furnishes no inconsiderable 
l^ortion of their daily food. They profess the Roman Catholic 
religion, and are sober, industrious and virtuous. Under the 
Mexican government they voted and held office, and enjoyed 
all the right of citizenship — rights which have not heretofore 
however been acknowledged by the United States. Each pueblo 
or village is a community within itself, f The male inhabitants 
of the village on Christmas eve annually elect a governor, 
lieutenant governor,* war captain, and subordinate officers, who 
order the internal affairs of the pueblo, the people obeying 
implicitly the officers of their choice. 

■•'•■ The oarlioist record wo have looking to the pucbloization of the Indians of 
uUrumarine possessions of Spain is tlie decree of the emperor Carlos II, of March 
21, 1551, setting forth that in pursuance of a royal command, of 15^16, the prelates 
of New Spain, now Mexico, specially convened, had resolved that the Indians 
should be reduced to pueblos; and Felipe II made a statute and regulations for 
the protection of the Pueblo Indians, and for the settlement of others not then 
living in villages. 

t The populations of the pueblos respectively are given in our tabular state- 
ment of the population of the Territory by counties. 



INDIANS IN THE TERRITORY. 143 

The study of the Pueblos is a most intcrcstins: one, thoupfli 
one which it is believed will never unveil the mystery of who 
tliey were in the zenith of their power and glory in this portion 
of the world. We believe it was the ancestors of those we have 
among us to-day who built and inhabited the evidently immense 
and populous ancient puelilos or towns whose ruins stand all over 
New Mexico — but the mystery as to who and what manner of 
people it really was who built the ancient pueblos we refer to, 
is as much a question still" as is the mystery of the builders of 
the i\vramids. Certainly they were a people powerful in num- 
bers, and advanced iu the arts. These ancient people are 
usually referred to as the ]\rontezumas. In our mountains and 
valleys are many ruins of the Montezumas, and they extend 
south into Chihuahua, and west into Arizona. Some of these 
old ruins of pueblos indicate that their denizens numbered even 
tens of thousands. The Montezumas clearly were the most civ- 
ilized of all the Indians, and they were evidently advanced in 
many arts and sciences ; had a complete system of government, 
and their kings had absolute sway over an empire whose extent 
was great, and much of which, since it has been acquired by the 
United States, remains unexplored, and whose population 
amounted to hundreds of thousands. They were an iudustriou.-? 
peoi)le, adepts in the cultivation of the soil (by irrigation, as the 
remains cf their ditches show), in mining, and in the manufac- 
ture of woolen goods, in which latter industry some of the 
Indians of the country, the Navajos, still excel. They built 
houses and temples; they were a great nation of miners ; the 
empire was and remains a rich extent of precious metals, and 
indications are found of their working of mines on the streams 
and in the mountains. 

The Pueblos of to-day — says Major Jalin Ward, formerly 
government agent among them, and whoin twenty-five years of 
constant, intimate intercourse with them had made thoroughly 
acquainted with their character and all their customs — are all 
of them nominally Koman Catholics in rt^llgion, and asfarascan 
be discerned, appear to be sincere and earnestly devoted to the 
rites of that church, whose showy ceremonies present to them a 
religion they can sec, and for that reason in some degree compre- 
hend and appreciate. Each town has its church edifice, which 
is held in high respect. The people esteem and obey their 
priests. They generally marry, baptize and bury according to 



144 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

the rules of that sect. The holy days are generally attended to. 
Each has its patron saint, whose name the pueblo bears, with 
few exceptions, and whose anniversary is never neglected. On 
that day a great feast takes place, and after the ceremonies 
pertaining to the church are over, which occupy the first part of 
the day, amusements of all kinds are universally resorted to, 
such as foot racing, horse racing, cock figliting, gambling, 
dancing, eating and drinking, with the usual accompaniments. 
On such occasions liberality is an especial virtue, and no pains 
are spared to make everybody welcome. Some of the Pueblos 
are noted for these feasts, and great numbers from distant parts 
of the country flock thither to enjoy the amusements and share 
their hospitalities. Independently of the foregoing, however, 
there is every reason to believe that the Pueblos still adhere to 
their native belief and ancient rites. That most of them havefaith 
in Montezuma is beyond a doubt, but in what light it is difficult to 
say, as they seldom or never speak of him, and avoid conver- 
sations on the subject. Like other people, they do not like to be 
questioned on subjects which they believe to concern no one but 
themselves. It is stated by some that the Montezuma of the 
Pueblo Indians is not the Montezuma of the conquest, but an 
agent of the Spanish and Mexican governments, formerly chosen 
to protect the rights and interests of the Pueblos, and called 
Protector de los Indios. Be this as it may, one thing is certain: 
that this view of the subject differs entirely from that of the 
Indians. They believe to this day that Ilontezuma originated in 
New Mexico, and some go so far as to designate his birth-i)lace. 
In this they differ, however, some affirming that he was born at 
the old pueblo of Pecos, just east of the city of Santa F6, and 
others, that his birth-place was an old pueblo located near Ojo 
Caliente, the ruins of which are still to be seen, north of Santa 
Fe about fifty miles. 

There are within the limits of New Mexico nineteen existing 
<< pueblos," the names of all of which are given at the end of 
this paragraph, including that of Pecos, the one most recently 
depopulated, and whose remnant of inhabitants removed to, and 
incorporated themselves with the Jemez pueblo some years since. 
The pueblo of Zuiii stands in Arizona we believe, though it is 
thought by some to be in New Mexico, wherein all the maps 
locate it. The interritorial line, which is 100° west longitude. 



INDIANS IN THE TERRITORY. 145 

has not yet been surveyed and marked, and the pueblo probably 
stands a few minutes west of it, in al)Out latitude 'Sr,° H)\ Jt 
belonfj:s naturally to the pueblo system of New Mexico, and we 
have included it among the population of our county of Valencia, 
though it belongs more properly perhaps to that of the county of 
Santa Ana. 

The old Spanish archives preserved at Santa Fe, show that 
formerly the respective pueblos were referred to as of th(!Tegua, 
the Queres or the Taro division of the Pueblo Indians. The fol- 
lowing list of the villages examined in connection with a map 
of the Territory, showing their localities, will elicit the inter- 
esting fact that some intervening villages speak dialects different 
from those of tbeir nearest neighbors, and identical with those 
of distant ones; which circumstance suggests, we think, that 
at some time long agone, some cataclysm must have occurred in 
this country among the pueblos, which occasioned a radical con- 
fusion and disorganization of peoples and communities. 

The Indians of the pueblos of Santa Clara, Tesuque, Narabe, 
San Ildefonso, San Juan, Pojoaque, Pecos, Jemez, speak one dia- 
lect — the Tegua; those of the pueblos of Taos, Picuris, Sandia, 
Isleta, speak one dialect — the Tano; those of the pueblos of Santo 
Domingo, Cochiti, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Sandia, Laguua, 
Acoma, speak one dialect — the Queres. 

These interesting inhabitants of our Territory, the Pueblo 
Indians, are an important, and when they assume the practical 
exercise of their political rights and privileges, a powerful con- 
stituent of the body politic. Possessing and exercising the 
functions of Mexican citizens under the constitution and laws of 
the Republic of Mexico, and having a status as such citizens at 
the time of the change of national sovereignty in 1848, though 
declining until recently to claim citizenship under the Ameri- 
can government, they are nevertheless, and have been for the 
last quarter century, under international treaty, and entirely 
aside from Article XIV of the United States constitution, de Jure 
and de Jacto American citizens, and entitled to vote and hold 
office, and exercise and enjoy all the other rights and privileges 
of such citizens. The supreme court of New Mexico has twice 
so held and decided — once in 1867, and again in 1874. On this 
occasion several cases were before the court on a[ipeal involving 
the status of the Pueblo Indians as to whether they are citizens 

10 



146 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

of the United States, by what tenure they hold their lands, and 
whether they have the right to sell and dispose of the same as 
other citizens may do. These cases were brought into the 
supreme court from the district court, and were instituted to 
recover the penalty imposed by act of Congress of 1834, known 
as Indian Intercourse Act, for settling on Indian lands. The 
court decided substantially that the Pueblo Indians of this Terri- 
tory were made citizens of the Republic of Ilcxico by the plan of 
Iguala, the treaty of Cordova, and the decrees of the Mexican 
Congress passed in 1824, and being citizens of Mexico at the 
time that New Mexico was acquired, were included in the term 
'Mexicans,' as used in the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, and 
thereby became citizens of the United States, with full power to 
sell and dispose of their lands, which they hold primarily under 
grants from Spain and Mexico, which have been confirmed by 
acts of Congress, and patented in conformity with law. Many 
of these grants are more than two hundred years old, and these 
Indians have exercised the right to sell and convey in fee sim- 
ple for more than fifty years. The Indians themselves make no 
complaint, but maintain good faith towards the purchasers, and 
wonder why the government should seek to annul their bona 
fide contracts, or interfere with their rights and privileges as 
citizens. 

It is conceded that their lands are fully equal to any of the 
fruit or grain lands in the Territory in location and productive- 
ness, and their standard of cultivation equals in excellence the 
best methods of the country. This decision will augment the 
voting population of the Territory at least four thousand, and 
will relieve the government from the necessity and expense of 
supporting pueblo agents, and the distribution of farming imple- 
ments amongst them, when, they are as well or better able to buy 
for themselves than the majority of our other citizens. The 
purchasers of these lands number at least five thousand people 
throughout the Territory, and they are now relieved from anxi- 
ety as to the tenure of their estates, because they believe that 
the supreme court of the United States will approve the decision, 
the cases having been appealed by the government. 



THB MfiSILLA VALLEY. 147 

THE MESILLA VALLEY. 

Thi.s portion of southern New Mexico tlid not become United 
Stiites territory, like the bahmce of New Mexico, in virtue of 
the treaty of Guiidaloupe Hidalgo of 1848. It was acquired 
under the treaty of December ;J(), 1853, and the United .States 
Congress, by the act approved August 4, 1854, declared that 
"until otherwise provided by law, the territory acquired under 
the late treaty with Mexico, commonly known as tlie Gadsden 
treaty, be and the same is hereby incorporated with the Territory 
of New Mexico, subject to all the laws of said last named Terri- 
tory." 

Previous to 1850 there were no white settlements, except at 
Dona Ana, in the Mesilla valley. Between the dates of the 
treaties of 1848 and 1853 the national governmentof Mexico and 
the state government of Chilmahua were desirous that those 
Mexican citizens in New Mexico who wished to retain their 
character as such, should remove into the territory of the Mexi- 
can Republic, and they each made provision for their transpor- 
tation thither. A considerable number of families went into the 
valley from the up country, and located in colonies, authorized 
and aided by those governments, more particularly the state 
government, which had made grants of land to the colonists, 
and encouraged with practical aid emigration and settlement 
there. 

At DoSa Ana Bend, a colony grant, as shown by the records 
at Chihuahua, was made by the state government in 1839, and 
a colony, which for a time flourished, was established there. 
We do not know that it was ever depopulated and abandoned, 
though this is very probable, in view of the fact that in tiiose 
days settlements everywhere in New Mexico were ruinously 
harrassed by Indian depredations upon life and property. The 
place is now well settled, a large and flourishing population of 
farmers and stock-raisers inhabiting the spot. The United States 
surveyor geneial reports in 18G5 that the grant to the colony of 
Dofia Ana, made by the sttite government of Chihualiua in 1S53, 
is about sixteen miles in length along the left bank of the Rio 
Grande, and from one to three miles in width of irrigable land, 
and one league in width of mesa or pasture land, called egldos, 
or commons. The grant embraces the town of Dofia Ana, con- 
taining about a thousand people. Las Cruces containing, about 



148 brevookt's new Mexico. 

two thousand, Tortugas, containing about three hundred, and 
ranchos containing about three hundred and fifty. 

Tlie town of Mesilla, below DoSa Ana, was settled in the 
year 1850 on public land, to which, in 1853, the inhabitants 
received a grant from the Mexican government as a colony, the 
limits of which colony lands embrace also the town of Picacho, 
the whole on the right bank of the Rio Grande, between it and 
the mesa or table land, and extending north and south about ten, 
and east and west about two and a half miles. The town of 
Mesilla contains perhaps two thousand, and the town of Picacho, 
with surrounding ranchos, perhaps one thousand souls. 

The town of La Mesa, just south of La Mesilla, is situated, 
we think, upon public land, and contains about seven hundred 
people. They claim a tract of land extendingsometenortwelve 
miles along the right bank of the Rio Grande, embracing about 
two hundred ranchos of eighty acres each. Santo Tomas is a 
town of about three hundred souls, situate between La Mesilla 
and La Mesa, and was settled in the year 1852. The people 
claim a tract of land about four miles square. The town of 
Amoles, on the west bank of the Rio Grande, below La Mesa, 
was settled in 1851, and is a flourishing settlement, the people 
claiming, we believe, under a Mexican grant, one league of irri- 
gable and one league of pastoral land. 

The government of Mexico in the year 1851 or J 852, granted 
to a number of citizens a tract of land for the colony of Refugio, 
on the west side of the Rio Grande, about six leagues north of 
El Paso, the land then lying in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, 
now in the Territory of New Mexico, United States, the place 
being now occupied by a considerable number of inhabitants. 

A prominent citizen of the valley, Judge Knapp, has re- 
cently written and published a series of interesting, and no 
doubt reliable articles, setting forth the various natural advan- 
tages and attractions of southern New Mexico, and particularly 
of the Mesilla valley, and we here append the major portion of 
the same. 

The Mesilla Valley. 

" People in the fog-clad states are constantly inquiring, where 
can our asthmatics and consumptives go to find relief from those 
diseases which must sooner or later take away those who are 



TUE MESILLA VALT.EY 149 

affoctofl hy them? Florida, Cuba, southern Europe, and the eold 
flinie of Miiinesotti have been tested, and failed to give the 
needed relief; then all eyes have been turned to Colorado. The 
rank, tropical vep:etation of Cuba and Florida, saturated \vith 
moisture, and rooting under a summer heut, has jjroved more 
dangerous from their miasms, than the diseases from which the 
patient has sought relief. Southern Europe has proved too damp 
and changeable, and many a bright intellect has sunk there from 
the diseases they have endeavored to escape. Colorado has 
bright days, warm summer sunshine, cool nights, arid climate, 
but too cold and snowy winters, too high an elevation for persons 
on whose constitutions disease has fiistened its fangs; and the 
desired spot has not yet been found by the world, because the 
public mind has not been pointed to this place. 

THIS SANITORIA OF THE UNION 

is located in southern New Mexico, where the atmosphere is 
more dry than in Colorado, the sky brighter, the nights suftici- 
ently cool for refreshing sleep, and free from Hlamp night air,' 
and the elevations are such as to suit each case, varying from 
the elevation of the Rio Grande at 4000 feet, to the mines in 
Grant county, and the high cattle ranges in the Guadaloupe 
ranges in Lincoln county, where 7000 feet may be selected, on the 
clear trout streams and cool springs of water, in an air fragrant 
with the scent of the pine and the spruce. 

One of the reasons urged upon congress and the people 
of the United States for the confirmation of the Gadsden 
Purchase Treaty, was the acknowledged salubrity of the climate 
in this Mesilla valley. Since that period, and especially since 
the Butterfield overland mail has been drawn off, on account of 
the war between the North and South, little has been said about 
the valley itself. It lias passed from the public mind a.s its sight 
has been lost from the public eye. 

THIS VALLEY EXTENDS ALONG THE RIO GRANDE, 

between the 33(1, and 31^ degrees, is seventy miles long, and 
from one to six miles wide, arid contains about two hundred and 
eighty square miles, over which the irrigating ditches may be 
carried. It is hemmed in on the north-west by a range of 
mountains, nearly 1000 feet higher than the river, on the north 
by the Dona Ana range, which has peaks 1500 feet high, and on 



150 BREVOORT's new MEXICO. 

the northeast the Organ peaks tower, more than three thousand 
'feet above the valley. Thus is the valley secured from the cold 
winds from these directions, and which sweep over the plains 
and valleys farther north. Hemmed in by these mountains, in 
winter the ground is never frozen to obstruct the plow, and the 
days always bright, allow the invalid to exercise in the sunshine 
every day, in an almost summer heat. When the overland 
mail ran here, many persons reached it in search of that health 
they had lost in the States, and succeeded in a remarkable 
degree. 

THERMOMETRICAL POSITION OF THIS REGION. 

In latitude, southern New Mexico corresponds to Savannah, 
Georgia, and has a great summer heat, though in the shade it is 
always cool and pleasant. Its elevation gives it the winter 
climate of Wilmington, North Carolina, as is manifest from the 
vegetation which can be grown here. 

THIS CLIMATE CANNOT BE EXCELLED 

for its sanatory qualities. But once since the annexation to the 
United States has the mercury been noted below zero, and then 
it remained at that point but a few hours. Snows seldom whiten 
the ground, and never fall to the depth of two inches, or lie 
thirty-six hours. Not a flake has fallen for more than a year. 
Damp, chilly days and hot sultry night?, are unknown. The heat 
of summer is not oppressive, and sunstroke has never been 
known. The sky is clear the year round, and no day has been 
known when the sun and stars have not been seen. The atmosphere 
is unsurpassed for its dryness and purity. Full of electricity, it 
is wonderfully exhilirating, and never burdened by malarious 
or poisonous exhalations. Blankets are necessary for all beds on 
nights which follow the hottest day, because the nights are cool, 
though not damp. Sleeping with doors and windows open, or 
in the open air may be practiced without risk of < taking cold.' 
The asthmatic or consumptive invalid may sit out of doors, ride 
or walk in the sunshine 360 days in the year, with pleasure and 
comfort, and may always enjoy refreshing sleep at night, thus 
securing the most essential condition for the restoration of a 
shattered nervous system, and broken constitution. 



.THE MESILLA VALLEY. 161 

' FREE AND PULL BREATHING OP PURE AIR 

is the most important for a sufferer from diseases of the liver and 
lungs. Make such a person breathe, and he will live; whatever 
makes him breathe faster makes his blood flow more rai)i(lly and 
be better aerated. His appetite will increase, digestion and 
assimilation will respond to the increased action of the lungs, 
which is secured by the elevation of this valley. Hero one 
must breathe more fully and more rapidly than nearer the sea 
level, and his air is the purest on the face of the earth. A 
permanent increase of breathing capacity, caused by rare air, 
prevents the formation of tubercles, and often heals those already 
formed. At this elevation, 4000 feet, this increase is not so 
great as to be injurious, as is sometimes the case at higher 
elevations. Such are some of the conditions which give to 
to Mesilla an extremely healthy and invigorating climaiey free from 
the malaria of the hot, damp regions of the river beds and low 
lands of the southern states, and from the mountain fevers, 
colds, influenzas, asthmas, and consumptions, of the higher 
ranges of Rocky Mountains, and cold fog-bound regions of the 
northern states. A more desirable climate cannot be found the 
world over. Persons shut out from the light of the sun are most 
disposed to consumption. For such daily sunlight is everything. 
Southern New Mexico has more sunny days than any region of 
the United States, probably more than any other place; and the 
invalid here cannot but enjoy that benefit, unless he purposely 
excludes himself from it. 

WHAT PHYSICIANS SAY. 

Florida and Cuba are warmer in winter, but they have an 
atmosphere loaded with vapor, and winter is the period of the 
greatest rains and, consequently, cloudy days. The invalid 
seeking to regain his health will not go to them, if he follows 
the advice of Dr. Chambers in his lectures on the renewal of 
life. That eminent English physician says: 

<In choosing a home for your consumptive, do not mind the 
average height of the thermometer, or its variations; do not 
trouble yourself about the moan rainfall; do not be scientific at 
all, but find out by somebody's journal how many days were fine 
enough to go out forenoon and afternoon: that is the test you 
require; and by that you may be confidently guided.' 



152 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

Tried by such a test, and the invalid must locate in the 
Mesilla valley in preference to all other places. Here is no 
rank, rich vegetation, saturated with moisture, and constantly 
undergoing decomposition. Vegetation dries up, never rots. 
Meat hung in the open air and sun, cures, and is preserved 
without salt. Such air, when inhaled, gives a stimulus and 
vital force, which can only be given by so pure an atmosphere. 
One having a predisposition to consumption, comes to this 
valley, and is immediately relieved. 

The caution given by Dr. Bancroft, of Denver, and approved 
by Dr. Pancoast, of Philadelphia, is not applicable to this valley, 
though it may be to the higher regions. And if he had lived 
here, as he did in Denver, he ' would not have penned these 
words : 

< Wliile .earnestly recommending the curative powers of 
Colorado, I must stoutly warn persons in the advanced stages of 
pulmonary consumption against venturing into the rare air of 
these elevated plains; because the necessity for increased action 
of the respiratory organs tends to hasten, instead of retard, a 
fatal termination. The same cause is applicable to any form of 
organic disease of the heart, excepting that induced by asthma.' 

The Mesilla valley is at that mean elevation which will 
induce proper activity of the lungs, yet its air is not so rare as 
to produce the injurious effects mentioned by these physicians, 
and while this is the best location for those suffering from 
pulmonary disease, it is even more true of those afflicted with 
asthma, and for those whose constitutions have been broken down 
by misamatic fevers. 

CURATIVE PROPERTIES IN OTHER DISEASES. ' 

Diseases of the liver, spleen, bronchitis, phthisis, dispepsia, 
general depression of the nervous system, are all relieved or 
cured by a residence here. The remarkably tonic properties of 
the atmosphere are beneficial in all these forms of disease, and 
restoration to health may be expected while here. 

Many cases of cure might be cited, but this communication 
will not allow it. Many persons have arrived here suffering 
from a pre-disposition to consumption, from asthma to such a 
degree that they could not lie down to sleep, from nervous debil- 
ity, and while here have either been greatly relieved or become 



THE MESILLA VALLEY. 153 

entirely free from their distressing effects. Some have attempted 
to return to their old homes, before the cure was completed, and 
have .succumbed to renewed attaeks, or been obliged to return. 
Any person with a fair constitution, who settles in this portion 
of New Mexico, stands a better chance of enjoying a healthful 
life, and attaining his full period of 'three score years and ten,' 
than in any otlier part of the Union. To the young of consump- 
tive families, it offers special inducements. Here many a 
brilliant and useful life, which might be lost in a less strengtlien- 
ing climate before reaching the meridian of manhood, may be 
prolonged to a vigorous old age. 

IRRIGATION AND PRODUCTIVENESS. 

This valley can all be irrigated from the Rio Grande, than 
which no stream, not even the Nile, affords better water for that 
purpose. The descent of the valley, between four and five feet 
to the mile, and flat, is the very best form for successful irri- 
gation with facility. The soil is a rich, sandy loam, easily culti- 
vated, and abundantly supplied with mineral salts. All the fruits 
of the warmer temperate regions grow in wonderful perfection, 
free from fungoid, and insect diseases and attacks. The yield 
of whatever is planted is enormous. The seasons ripen wheat 
in June, and corn, beans, a fodder or root crop may be taken 
from the ground the same year. Wheat gives from 40 to GO 
bushels to the acre, averaging, when well tilled, 50 bushels of a 
quality that should be classed XXXI, and weighing 65 pounds 
to the bushel. This land is cheap, even such as have connections 
with the irrigating ditches, can now be bought for a dollar an 
acre. It will not be so cheap long. 

COLONIES NEEDED. 

No place in the ' far west ' has so many inducements for the 
formation of colonies for settlement, as has this valley, or where 
labor will be more surely rewarded, and health and long life 
enjoyed more fully. Colonial agents should look this way, be- 
fore choosing elsewhere. All that is needed is to be better 
known, and ready comnmnieation with the populous portions of 
the Union, to make the Mesilhi valley as famous as it is valuable. 
These it will soon possess, by the Texas and Pacific Railway. 
Its merits can never be written; it must be enjoyed to be known 
and appreciated. 



154 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

THE WARM TEMPERATE BELT. 

Between the parallels of 31 and 33 degrees lies the most 
productive belt of the continent. Its great staples are cotton, 
rice and tobacco. But, it also produces all the fruits found further 
north, and many that will not grow there. All the great cities 
of the Union are striving for its commerce, and though but 
partially improved, the railways and rivers groan with the 
burden of its crops. The fiat of commerce has gone forth, and 
the pastures of Texas, as well as wood lands, farther east, are 
demanded for cotton, and the thousands of cattle must feed on 
drier grounds where cotton cannot be depended upon for want 
of rains. In this belt lies southern New Mexico, on whose rich 
grasses the herds of Texas may feed the year round, and on 
whose irrigable lands all the productions of this favored belt can 
be reared, by men breathing the purest air on the continent. 

The Mesilla valley is the brightest gem in this girdle. It is 
seventy miles long, and contains 280 square miles of land 
between the banks on either side. The Rio Grande winds its 
way through it, touching the hard land at several points. At 
these points watering canals may be taken out, and, if need be, 
the whole stream used for irrigating the valley. Its soil is a 
rich alluvium of river deposits, highly charged with mineral 
salts, and containing sufficient sand to make easy cultivation. 
Its climate is mild in winter. Frosts never impede the plow, 
and the summer days, if hot, are always followed by cool nights. 
The clear, pure atmosphere always permits the sun's rays to 
penetrate the earth, and force forward vegetation, but dry air 
being a bad conductor of heat, the shade is always grateful. 
Refreshing coolness covers the valley at night, and the weary 
sleep, and are refreshed. 

AN AGRICULTURAL CENTER. 

The agricultural out-look of the Mesilla valley is peculiar, 
and the agriculturist will here be favored as at no other point in 
the far west. His position is exactly reversed from that of 
his fellow in the east, where competition every year cheapens 
the market for farm supplies. Here the 280 square miles have 
but to compete with an equal amount of land scattered over the 
breadth of the Territory where irrigation may be procured, and 
without irrigation only grass and weeds grow. While population 



THE MESILLA VALLEY. 155 

ill tho niiiios and manufactures, and among the herder;? of the 
plains, and of non-i^roduciiif!: seekers of health and pleasure will 
increase in number, the consumption of food must be increased 
indefinitely, the producing farm land will remain in a fixed quan- 
tity, and the cultivators of the soil must forever monopolize the 
feeding of a population destined to be dense, who are engaged in 
producing gold, silver, lead, copper, and other valuable metals 
and minerals, and in herding the thousands of sheep and cattle 
which shall feed on the plains and mountain sides. Thus it is 
that the larmer's chance for a large return for his investment 
must grow better with successive years. The prices he will 
obtain can only be limited by the cost at which the same products 
can be furnished here from elsewhere. 

THE MOST FERTILE DISTRICT IN THE BELT, 

and also the most fertile valley of the Rio Grande, is tho Mesilla. 
The greatest argument, used by the friends of annexation, was 
the fertility of the valley. Experience proves the truth of their 
claim. The yield of wheat, which is planted at any time from 
October to March, and harvested in June and early July, is 
three and four times as great as any of the states. Sixty to one 
of seed is the ordinary yield. Barley gives an average of 3000 
pounds to the acre, and is sown in January and February, and 
harvested at the same time as wheat. Corn averages as high as 
in Illinois. Beans, peas, oats, potatoes, and sorghum, grow- as 
well as anywiiere in the same latitude. 

FRUITS AND GARDENS. 

The Mesilla valley excels in its fruits and gardens. The <E1 
Paso' grapes for wine making are unsurpassed. The juice is 
heavier than from the grapes of Madeira or Portugal, as the 
grapes remain on the vines until they commence to dry, before 
being crushed; and the wort contains as much sugar as the 
sweetest of JNIalaga. A thousand gallons of pure grape juice 
wine is manuiactured from an acre of vineyard, which has cost 
for tending about twice as much as an acre of corn. As soon as 
grapes of proper size shall be introduced, Mesilla will become as 
famous as Smyrna for its raisins. Those grapes already here 
make an excellent raisin except in size. 

Api)les from the Northern States were introduced by myself 
into Mesilla ten years ago, in the form of root grafts, by mail, j 



156 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

Some of those trees are now a foot in diameter, and capable of 
bearing tliirty bushels of apples to the tree. Apples often bear 
fruit in three years from the root graft, and varieties that bear 
but every alternate year in Pennsylvania, here produce full crops 
every year. The fruit is uncommonly large, fair and high 
flavored; but it ripens, as do apples elsewhere in the same lati- 
tude, considerably earlier than in Pennsylvania. No insect or 
disease has yet attacked the fruit or tree. The price is liniited 
by the discretion of the seller, and must always be high. 
Peaches, pears and quinces of superior qualities have been intro- 
duced from the Mexican Missions. The trees grow large, are 
long lived, free from all diseases, and produce large crops. The 
almond tree grows as well as the peach, but the fruit is some- 
times lost from the late frosts in the Spring. Almonds and apri- 
cots which would not bloom earlier than the apple would be a 
great acquisition here. No doubt such will be found or produced 
from seed. 

ALL KINDS OF GARDEN PLANTS GROW. 

In the gardens everything which is produced in the neigh- 
borhood of Washington can be grown, and of enormous sizes. 
All the small fruits thrive and do well, except the red currant. 
Oni('ns deserve special mention for their size and mildness of 
flavor. Beets are a sure crop and large, and it is believed that 
the manufacture of sugar from beets will yet be successful. 

IRRIGATION AND WATER. 

Large watering canals could be cut on each side of the river, 
and if constructed with locks could be navigated, and excellent 
water powers would be created at suitable points. From these 
canals water for irrigation could be procured, and the entire val- 
ley watered most of the year. The descent is between four and 
five feet to the mile, which gives a good fall, and enables the 
water to be carried to every point of the valley proper. !No bet- 
ter water exists for irrigating purposes than the Rio Grande, as 
it is so loaded with sediment as to leave a scale of mud after 
each application to the ground, and is well supplied with min- 
eral salts; land thus watered will always remain fertile, if a 
small allowance of vegetable matter is annually supplied. 

Water may also be obtained from the ground by pumps 
driven to the depth of less than twenty feet, and the water 



THE MESILLA VALLEY. 157 

raised by wind or other means, and caught in reservoirs. Thus 
orchards, vl-neyards and gardens may be always sui)i)lied, with- 
out reference to the state of the river. 

FORAGE CROPS. 

The only forage crop yet reared is alfalfa, wliich can be cut 
five times during the summer, and gives a yield of eiglit tons of 
green feed to the acre, at each cutting. Land fully stocked and 
watered freely requires no further care. Its roots are large, 
strike to great depths, and are permanent for many years. For 
dried fodder, corn or sorghum planted in drills or sown broad- 
cast, and late sown wheat or barley, might be used successfully. 
Large quantities of hay are cut on the plains whenever a fair 
supply of summer rains have fallen. Beets, carrots and turnips 
for feeding stock or household use, need not be raised from the 
ground till required for use, as the frosts do not injure them, 
especially if they are watered during the winter. 

THE WINTERS ARE USUALLY DRY. 

Hains seldom fall in the valley between the months of August 
and June, and snows exceeding two inches in depth, or lying 
two days at a time, have never been known. The railroad 
which will cross the continent by this belt, will never be im- 
peded by snows or hindered by the vicissitudes of the seasons. 
The farmer can do so much of his work during the cool season, 
that he can afford to rest from his labors, under the shade of his 
fruit tree or his grape vine, during the heat of the day. 

A RAILROAD CENTER. 

The solid foundation of a soil and adjacent country capable of 
sustaining population, being given, experience has demonstrated 
that the growth of a place must depend upon its railway rela- 
tions. Tried by that test, and the future of the Mesilla valley 
1 i already fixed. All the mountain ranges, which pass from the 
Isthmus of Darien to the north, that form the Cordilleras of 
Mexico, and the Rocky and other mountain ranges further north, 
are here broken down to plateaux, with but one elevation above 
5,000, and the water shed is but 4,900 feet above the level of the 
ocean. The surveys show that the continent may l)e here crossed 
without a variation of a degree of latitude. Over this divide 
the Texas and Pacific is constructing its line to San Diego. The 



158 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

Denver and Rio Grande narrow guage projects its line througli 
this valley. Tlie Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, or the branch 
of the Kansas Pacific^ which are heading towards New Mexico, 
will find their interest to be to unite and pass down the Rio 
Grande, rather than pass over the high continent, often snow 
covered, near the 35th parallel. The conclusion seems inevitiible 
of a railroad center in this valley. 

UNOCCUPIED LAND. 

Not one-tenth of the valley is occupied. Four small grants 
are located in the valley, and the state of Texas has also sold a 
small quantity of land. But to more than three-fourths of the 
valley the title is still in the United States, the state of Texas, 
with the contingent right of the Texas and Pacific railway to 
one-hulf. The other half is subject to settlement. Much of 
the granted lands are unoccupied, or uncultivated, and may now 
be purchased for less than government prices. Emigrants may 
go much further and fare worse than to locate in this valley. 
Such need but understand that the demand for irrigation re- 
quires colonial or united action, and that large communities will 
do better than small ones. Small farms for the individual are 
preferable to large ones, unless there be a community of interest, 
in all the people of a settlement. Much of the land can be 
doubly cropped each year, so that one acre in the Mesilla valley 
answers to two in Colorado. Every farm should be cultivated to 
its full capacity, and all the refuse returned to the soil. Every 
acre should wear the image of a garden, and it will give support 
to a human being. While agents for colonies are running hither 
and thither seeking locations, they should look to the valley 
lying in this favored climate, where lands are cheap, on the line 
of the Texas and Pacific railway, and whose track will reach it 
before the hardy emigrant can possibly prepare for the advent. 
Time in this case is most surely money in the pockets of the first 
comers. 

EARLY TIMES. 

For centuries past stock-raising has been recognized as one of 
the great industries of New Mexico. When the gold discoveries 
drew thousands of men to California, New Mexico had the droves 
of cattle and flocks of sheep to nearly supply the prospectors 
with meats. But owing to the inroUds and pillages of the Indians 
in southern New Mexico, thousands of cattle, sheep and 



THE ME8ILLA VA.LLEY. l99 

horses wore destroyed, iiud most persons were deterred from 
engaging in the business. The Hocks and herds couhl only bo 
kept in proximity to the settlements, whence immediate pursuit 
could be given whenever the stock was raided upon, and thus 
some could be saved, but often with large losses. War has been 
the normal condition between the Mexican and Indians; stock was 
the object sought by the Indian, and defended by the Mexican. 
These wars and depredations narrowed the limits of the stock 
districts to the oldest and strongest settlements, which were then 
near the 3oth parallel, and southern New Mexico, though often 
looked at with anxious eyes, was by reason of the great number 
of Indians infesting it, given up to them. The dreaded < Jour- 
ney of the Dead' separated the Mesilla valley from the settle- 
ments above, and on either side lay regions unexplored, yet 
roamed over by men worse than the Bedouins of Arabia and 
Egypt, the terror and dread of all, whom to meet was the signal 
for a deadly fight. Happily the successions of the descendants 
of Europe have increased faster than the Indians, and their 
weapons of warfare more effective, till now comparative safety 
prevails, and the rich pastures of southern New Mexico are open 
to flocks and herds. 

PASTURES EAST QF THE RIO GRANDE. 

On the east of the Kio Grande, near the 35th parallel, the 
range has broken down to a high plateau, with several isolated 
ranges, one of which, the wliite mountain, near Fort Stanton, 
rises to nearly a hight of 8,000 feet above the level of the ocean. 
This plateau and the mountiiin sides are covered with fine, rich 
grasses, on ^\hich cattle and sheep become remarka])ly fiit in 
summer, and which dries to a hay in early autumn, and supplies 
the herds with winter food. 

WATERING PLACES. 

These mountain ranges are the source of numerous springs, 
which form small rivulets, some of wliich sink after running a 
short distance ; others find their way into the Rio Grande or 
Pecos, forming mill-streams of more or less magnitude. From 
these the cattle and sheep may feed to the distance of several 
miles, returning as often as they require drink. At many 
places wet grounds exist, where water may be procured in ex- 
cavations and wells, and can be saved in tanks for large herds of 



160 BKEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



cattle. These will also be utilized, and thus new pastures be 
added. 

CLIMATIC T.OCATION. 

In the Atlantic is the great whirl which causes the Gulf 
Stream, and collects the floating trees and seaweeds in the sea 
of Saragossa. A similar whirl exists in the Pacific ocean. These 
whirls, with centers about equally distant from southern Now 
INlexico, differently ffflfect our climate. Their foci are oscillated 
north and south as the sun passes from solstice to solstice. In 
summer the winds in the Atlantic whirl drives the rain belt over 
us, and gives to New Mexico its rains, which produce our grasses, 
while the winds of the Pacific whirl are confined to California, 
and the rains are pouring over the eastern coast of Asia, In 
winter the Atlantic whirl is withdrawn, and the Pacific winds, 
robbed of their moisture by the Sierras and mountains to the 
northwest, reach us arid and rainless. Thus the dry grasses 
retain their nutritious properties, till they grow anew. 

THE VALIiEY OF THE PECOS. 

The Pecos, which rises in the high mountains northeast of 
Santa Fe, flows east and south through a valley of its own, and 
enters the Rio Grande in Texas. On this stream are many val- 
uable places where fine tracts of land may be irrigated; but the 
valley is also the center of the best pasture lands in New Mexico, 
which will in a few years be purchased and held as private 
property, and then those who do not own their watering grounds 
must be driven out with their herds. The best portions of this 
river are in southern New Mexico. 

THE STAKED PLAIN. 

Has generally been supposed to be a desert region, but the 
latest exjjlorations demonstrate that it is an immense grassy plat- 
eau, with water found in pools and tanks, wet meadows and small 
springs, lohichjiow but short distances, and that most of this plain 
is good pasture land. 

PASTURES WEST OF THE RIO GRANDE. 

South of the Gila in New Mexico, there is only a bifurcated 
range of mountains, Cooke's Peak forming the eastern branch, 
and the Burro the western, between which flows the Miml^res, a 
beautiful mill stream, and which will form excellent powers for 
manufticturing purposes, and irrigate most of the river bottom 



THE MESILLA VALLEY. 161 

lands. These ranges also give many small springs, from which 
large herda can procure water the year through. They rise from 
a plateau elevated from 4,700 to 6,000 feet above the ocean, and 
mountains and plains are coated with excellent grasses. Prof. 
Maury, who traveled over this Territory in 1858, says: < The sun 
never shown upoi\ a finer grazing country than upon the three 
hundred miles west of the Rio Grande. The traveler has be fore 
him, throughout the entire distance, a sea of grass, whose nutri- 
cious qualities have no equal, and the stock raiser in January 
sees his cattle in better condition than our eastern farmer his 
stall fed ex.* 

On the 7th of August, 1872, while accompanying the explor- 
ing party on the Texas and Pacific railway, when we were pass- 
ing by Cooke's Peak, and after I had ridden about twenty miles, 
I made this entry in ray journal: < To-day I have passed most 
of the time over plains of the black grama,, one of the most 
nutritious of the perennial grasses of this region. It is now 
growing rapidly under the influence of the late rains, and mill- 
ions of cattle could be j^^i^tix^^d . here throughout the year.'' 
Similar entries are made on other days, and for other places, till 
we passed into Arizona. In most of these meadows were found 
pools of good, sweet water, and judging from the surface indica- 
tions, it appeared evident that water in abundance from common 
wells could be readily procured. 

COUNTLESS HERDS CAN FEED HERE. 

The lands which cannot be irrigated produce these rich 
grasses, on which countless herds of cattle, sheep and horses 
may pasture the year round, requiring no other feed or shelter 
than such as they can find in their ranges, and no care but the 
herdsman to keep them together. These lands are never cov- 
ered by snows which lie for two days, or that cover the grass 
from the bite of the stock. The perennial grasses are always 
green at the bottom, and the tops are hay, as are also the annual 
grasses which spring up with the summer rains, and fill all the 
ground not occupied by the perennials. 

HEALTH OF STOCK. 

The free, pure air of this entire region allows no epidemi 
disease to arise, or when disease is introduced, to become injur- 
iously epidemic. When the epizooty passed over this region in 

11 



162 brevoort's new Mexico. 

the spring of 1873, the horses suffered but slightly from its 
effects. The herds and flocks need not lie on the sanie ground 
two nights in succession, and before they require to reoccupy it, 
all miasmatic exhalations will have disappeared. 

PROFITS OF STOCK-RAISING. 

Without enlarging on the details of the profits of stock-rais- 
ing in southern New Mexico, or specifying cases, a few data 
from which deductions may be made will alone be given. Each 
cow between two and fifteen, years of age may be expected to 
drop a calf, and the twins will equal the percentage of calves 
which will die, as none perish from inclemency of weather. 
Hence each hundred cows will produce and rear one hun- 
dred calves, one-half of which will also have a calf at the end of 
the second year. The steers will more than pay all expenses of 
herding and marketing, and the heifers are clear gain. 

With sheep the increase is still greater. Each ewe of one 
year will drop a lamb, and the twins will more than equal the 
deaths of the entire flock for the year. Hence the man who 
commences the year with one thousand ewes, will at the end of 
the year have 2,000 sheep, of which 1,500 will be ewes, and 500 
wethers of one year, to be sold. At the end of the second year 
his flock will be 3,000, of which 2,250 will be ewes, and 750 
wethers for market, and at the end of the third year he finds 
himself with a flock of 3,375 ewes and 1,125 wethers for market. 
Thus after selling 1,875 wethers, he has 3,375 ewes left, as the 
produce of his 1,000 ewes in three years. 

The better the quality of the stock, the greater the income 
from it. From these data each one can easily calculate the 
profits," 



CONCLUSION. 
The territorial archives and records show that a considerable 
portion of the Territory is covered by numerous large and small 
grants, made by the Spanish and Mexican governments, long 
prior to the American occupation of this acquired Territory in 
the year 1846, which grants are recognized as good and valid 
against the public domain, under the treaties of 1848 and 1853 with 
Mexico, and vary in size and extent from 1000 to 500,000 acres 



CONCLUSION. 163 



and upwards, and were made with a view to embrace agricul- 
tural, pastoral, wood and timbered lands, and as one inducement 
to extend the frontier as far as possible, so as to protect the 
interior settlements. Minerals of all kinds, such as gold-bearing 
quartz, copper, iron, silver, lead, etc., including placers, abound 
as a general thing throughout the hilly and mountainous part of 
the Territory, and are claimed, go witli, and belong to the grants 
covering them. The foot-hills and lower lands are covered with 
natural grasses in variety, such as the celebrated blackhead 
grama, grama chino, buft'alo and river-bottom grasses. The fiirst 
is the most extensive, and is cut and cured in its wild state, 
making the choicest of hay, and is admitted to be far superior 
to timothy, furnishing green pasture in summer, and hay in 
winter. Cattle, horses and sheep live and keep fat upon it the 
year round, without being sheltered or requiring extra food, 
the climate being considered as fine as there is on the continent. 

In a majority of cases the grant lands are held by the heirs 
and legal representatives of the original grantees, all natives of 
the country. For a stranger to judiciously and successfully 
purchase from them it is necessary to operate through such 
parties here as have a knowledge of the country, and of the 
people and their language — the Spanish, and who has made these 
land grants a study, and understands the land laws and regula- 
tions, and the nature and character of the grants. The grant 
titles are equal, if not superior, to the United States land 
patents. 

Traveling south-west from Santa Fe, the valley of the Rio 
(?rande del Norte is reached in a distance of 25 miles, and is 
more than 1500 feet lower than Santa Fe, where one comes in 
contact with a portion of the agricultural lands ; extensive 
vineyards which bear a profuse and delicious grape, large quan- 
tities of which are manufactured into an excellent wine. To- 
gether with the grape, corn, wheat, oats, etc., are cultivated for 
a distance of 350 miles or more down the valley of the Rio 
Grande, at intervals, and wherever there are towns and settle- 
ments. 

Eastward, northeastward and south is an extensive pastoral 
country, reaching as it were to the very borders of Texas and 
Mexico. The Pecos river, which has its source in the moun- 
tains within thirty miles of Santa F6, in a northeasterly 
direction, winds its way southeasterly, and waters, together 



164 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 

with its tributaries, an immense country, pastoral and agricul- 
tural, where, as in the Eio Grande valley, the grape is success- 
fully raised on the lower lands, as well as other crops of corn, 
wheat, etc., with vegetables of every kind and description. 

The lower Pecos and Rio Grande valley country will some 
day, like southern California, boast of their grape-growing and 
wine-making capacity and facilities. North, northwest and 
west, the country is more elevated and mountainous, still 
affording a remarkably fine climate, immense stock-ranges with 
their natural grasses an(!f shelters, and from which comes much 
of the fat beef and mutton which supplies Santa Fe and its 
surroundings. This region, as a general thing is well timbered, 
well wooded, and well watered. The valleys are not so exten- 
sive in width (leaving out the Rio Grande) on this, the Atlantic 
slope, but are extremely rich and fertile, too elevated for the 
grape, yet admirably adapted to the potato, and an exceedingly 
fine article of wheat and barley. 

The region known as the Tierra Amarilla, Chama river and 
its tributaries, the Puerco and Jemez rivers, with their numerous 
tributaries, are all noted regions for pastoral capacity, and for 
large numbers of sheep and cattle. Thousands upon thousands 
of the former winter in many of these localities, and are found 
to be fat and healthy in the spring of the year, without any food 
or shelter except what nature provides. The mountains and 
foot-hills bear ample evidence of fine pine timber, piSon and 
cedar forests, together with minerals. The elevated or table- 
lands are covered to a fair extent with pinon and cedar tree 
groves, which also dot the extensive gently-rolling prairie 
country for many miles north, south, east and west. 

In cultivating the land, irrigation has to be depended upon. 
In many localities, however, near the base of mountains, fine 
crops are raised without irrigation, upon lands which are called 
temporal. On a large portion of the prairie country there is a 
scarcity of water for irrigating purposes, consequently but little 
farming is done outside the valleys which contain living streams. 
This does not, however, go to prove that it will always remain 
so, for that portion of the country can, and eventually will, be 
utilized by Artesian boring, wind-mill power, and ordinary 
wells, as also by building tanks, or throwing up artificial em- 
bankments at the base of long slopes, thereby collecting the 
drainage of many miles in circumference during the rainy 



CONCLUSION. 1G5 



season, which usually commences between the 15th and last 
days of June, raining at intervals, and lasting until August, and 
sometimes September, after which we usually have from two to 
four months of most delightful Indian summor-Iilce weather. 

During the winter, as a general occurrence, we have occasional 
rains in the lower, and light snows on the middle altitudes, with 
heavy snows in the elevated and high mountain ranges, the 
melting of which feeds the streams up to the time of the fall of 
rain. In many localities, especially on the rolling prairies and 
plains, are found natural basins which are susceptible of being 
made to hold water at a small expense (collected from the rains) 
for time indefinite. Again there are numerous lakes of water, 
both fresh and salt, distributed over a large area of country, all 
of which can be utilized for agricultural and pastoral purposes. 

In the building of houses, for city or rancho, the ordinary 
sun-dried adobe, made of common earth, is used, and costs from 
$5.00 to $7.50 per 1000—2,500 of which will build a warm 15x20 
feet 18 inches thiclc wall, 10 feet high, put up in mud mortar, 
and covered with earth, after the fashion of the country. 

Colonies of 50 families, and upwards, can find very desirable 
locations in the shape of land grants, which can still be purchased 
at from 25 cents to 50 cents per acre. At some points there are 
large, valuable grants located on and near the line of anticipated 
railroads, which embrace extensive forests of pine, saw and tie 
timber, which will eventually, or in a very few years, sell for 
tenfold the amount paid in the first instance for the entire grant 
and possessions. 

True, we have at this date what would seem free and exten- 
sive grazing regions; so it was in California twenty years since; 
but what is there to-day? The common pasture lands of that 
day in California, worth then 10 to 25 cents per acre, and thought 
to be high at that price, and unfit for any other purpose but 
grazing, now rent at that price per acre, year after year, for 
pastoral purposes alone, and are to-day worth from $5.00 to 
$50.00 per acre in many instances, and are in many localities in 
a high state of cultivation by the simple process of fallow plow- 
ing. What California was twenty years ago, New Mexico is to- 
day, and those who now secure theirland grant, large or small, and 
stock it with sheep and cattle, or even let it remain unstocked 
a few years, will realize their every hope, and live in ease and 
comfort and luxury in after years from their present investments. 



1G6 bbevoort's new Mexico. 

Stock-raising labor is here remarkably cheap. For instance: 
a native boy who has been reared from infancy as it were, with 
the sheep and goat lierd, will with the assistance of two or three 
native shepherd dogs, attend a flock of 600 to 2000 sheep, at an 
expense of $5.00 to $7.00 per month, not including his board, 
which consists generally of goat milk, and coarse bread and 
beans. 

As to railroads, the prospect is, indeed, most flattering. The 
Texas Pacific will pass along the line of the 32d parallel, and the 
Atlantic and Pacific along the line of the 35th, about 18 miles 
south of Santa Fe, en route to the Pacific coast. The Atchison, 
Topeka and Santa F<5 road will pass through southern Colorado 
into New Mexico, and after reaching the Cimarron will probably 
ascend that river, and cross over into the Taos valley, crossing 
the Rio Grande del Norte north of Santa Fe some 70 miles, 
making a detour northwesterlj^, after reaching Abiquin, 50 miles 
from Santa Fe, with a view to tap and pass through the immense 
agricultural, pastoral, mineral and timbered region of the cele- 
brated San Juan river country, the first Avaters of which are 
about 120 miles northwest of Santa Fe, and which belong to the 
Pacific slope. 

As we have at considerable length spoken of the Mesilla 
valley in extreme southern New Mexico, we will mention now 
somewhat in extenso extreme northern New Mexico, on the 
San Juan river. The region of country drained by the Sa:i Juan 
and a large number of tributaries to that stream, we assert, from 
personal observation, to be as fine as there is on the continent, 
with a capacity sufficient to give homes to a population equal to 
that of the whole Territory, embracing, as it does, all that nature 
could do for scenery, broad and fertile valleys, from one to 
twenty-five miles wide, with crystal waters in superabundance, 
stocked with the favorite mountain trout peculiar to that 
region, with a forest of pine timber, from which can be selected 
thousands upon thousands of pines that show a stump that will 
measure 24 to 40 inches and upwards^ millions of acres of 
natural grasses, peculiar to this country and climate, in many 
places interspersed with large patches of wild oats, stirrup-high, 
with water-power, from appearances sufficient to run the 
machinery of the world. This super-extraordinary country, 
which nature seems to have favored to extremes, is all that is 
desirable, and which is located immediately south and west of 



CONCLUSION. 107 



the immensely high mountain range, is claimed and occupied 
by numerous bands of Ute Indians, of good conduct generally, 
occupyiuf^ on an average each about 34 miles square of territory. 
The cry now arising against the occupation and monopoly of this 
magnificent country, extending to Grand river, in the territories 
of Utah and Colorado, and far beyond, by the Ute Indians, will 
cause, and indeed will force the government to remove them to 
a proper sized reservation, or the flow of immigration will 
drive them from this immense country lying contiguous to 
what are known as the San Juan river mines. The region 
embracing the mountains and mineral part jnst ceded by the 
Utes to the government of upwards of 2,U0U,000 of acres, as far 
as prospected, lies in Colorado, and shows masses of mineral 
gold, silver and copper of fabulous richness and extent, which 
is now attracting an unusually large immigration. 

Hundreds, yes thousands of fortune-seekers are to-day wend- 
ing their way there, by the different routes leading to this new 
paradise and mass of wealth, from the eastern states. Their 
routes are mainly from Denver, Pueblo and Trinidad, in Colo- 
rado, via the Sangre de Christo, and other passes in that vicinity, 
to La Loma and Rio Grande city, thence up the Ilio Grande del 
Norte and over the summit, which is 12,000 to 14,000 feet above 
the ocean, into Baker's and Los Animas Parks; also r^'a Conejos, 
over a small mountain range to Tierra Amarilla, Elbert and 
■ Hermosillo, on the south side of the high range just mentioned; 
also down the San Luis Park and valley of the Rio Grande from 
La Loma and Conejos; or, as soon as the Sangre de Christo Pass 
has been traveled, via Ojo Caliente, Abiquin and Tierra Ama- 
rilla, New Mexico, into the San Juan river country proper, 
reaching Las Animas river at the new towns of Elbert and 
Hermosillo, from whence it is but 3-'} miles to the Little Giant 
mine, and is accessible the year round, generally, when by Del 
Norte City and summit they are only accessible for about four or 
five months in the year. Another and far preferable route which 
will in time be appreciated and extensively traveled in prefer- 
ence to any other, will be from Pueblo or Trinidad, in Colorado, 
to Cimarron, via Moreno mines, Taos valley and Cieneguilla, in 
New Mexico, at which named points the government is expend- 
ing a congressional appropriation of $25,000 in building suitable 
bridges across the Rio Grande, and grading a military road 
between Taos and Rio Arriba counties, to Embudo, Plaza 



168 brevoort's new Mexico. 

Alcalde, and the pueblo of San Juan, re-crossing the Rio Grande 
at this point, and proceeding to Abiquin, etc. 

In the valley of Taos large quantities of wheat are manu- 
factured into a superior article of flour. Oats, corn and vege- 
tables are also cultivated. Here the emigrant can get his supply 
of No. 1 flour at about $4.00 per 100 pounds, and at Plaza 
Alcalde and the pueblo of San Juan any amount of grains, and 
pass on through a beautiful fertile country, reaching the new 
towns of Elbert and Hermosillo (at the base and south side of 
the high range,) laid out on the banks of the Animas river. Here 
one is struck with the grandeur of the scenery, the immense 
water power, the beautiful broad valley below, and at once is 
impressed with the future importance of these localities as 
proper sites for immense and numberless reduction works, 
which must very soon send up their dense clouds of black smoke 
in token of success. 

In this vicinity, but a few miles distant, have been discovered 
and located several very heavy veins of apparently a superior 
article of coal. Midway between Tiefra Amarilla, Elbert and 
Hermosillo, near one bank of the San Juan river, are the famous 
Pagosa boiling sulphur springs, now in Colorado (admirably 
located by nature in a spot especially adapted for the building 
of a large city,) whose waters will cure all diseases of the human 
system, throwing out a sufficiency of water for a thousand health- 
giving baths per hour. 

In the matter of railroads, before spoken of, we mention here 
the Denver and Rio Grande railroad, now within about 300 
miles (over the route it is supposed to pass) from Santa Fe, and 
designed to pass through the San Luis Park country, an elevated 
valley formation, on the upper Rio Grande, in a northerly 
direction from Santa Fe, following down the Rio Grande to or 
near Santa Fe, cutting the line of the proposed Atchison, Topeka 
and Santa Fe, Atlantic and Pacific, and Texas Pacific railroads, 
and leaving New Mexico at El Paso, Mexico, a point 350 miles 
down the valley of the Rio Grande from Santa Fe, and passing 
into the Mexican republic, through the city of Chihuahua, and 
on through other cities and states to the city of Mexico. 

In conclusion, we desire to say that it has here been our aim 
to bring into at least partial light the geographical position and 
character of New Mexico, and the superior natural advantages 
which she possesses, and which she off'ers with extended arms 



CONCLUSION. 169 



open to receive and embrace in welcome all who may choose to 
cast their lot with ours. 

First — For the peculiarly charming climate, free as it is from 
all and every epidemic, mild, and yet invigorating, and singu- 
larly pure and pleasant and salubrious. 

Second — For her millions of tons of hidden treasure in the 
shape of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, iron, lead, and coal, 
which lie buried within the bosoms of her majestic mountains, 
which stand guarded by enormous armies of gigantic pines and 
otlier forest kings, and constituting forests of incalculable worth 
and value, whose heads tower high above the average plain, 
reaching to the very heavens, as it were. 

Third — For her vast pastoral domain, which is unequaled by 
that of any territory or state in the American Union, and whose 
sweet nutritious grasses, fanned by the purest air, and moistened 
by the virgin waters, emanating from the snow-capped ranges, 
and borne thence with the vaporous floating clouds, and then 
descending with all their freshening purity. The valley, the 
plain, and the mountain alike keep the thousands of herds of 
cattle and sheep in a state oi contentment, causing them to thrive 
and be always in marketable condition from season to season, 
and from year to year, and come to maturity earlier, and be 
more prolific — all without extra care or extra food. 

Fourth — For the immense and valuable water powers coming 
from her massive mountains and their towering peaks, sufficient 
to run the machinery of the world, apart from the amounts 
which will some day be required for extensive wool factories, 
and numberless quartz mills and stack furnaces, and last, not 
least, the broad and inviting field of adventure, here open and 
off'ered to the capitalist and the enterprising, unequaled any- 
where upon the continent, from whose capital or labor greater 
results in actual profits will accrue, with less risk and care than 
are obtained in the general, ordinary routine of successful busi- 
ness in the commercial cities of the Union — investments which 
will yield eighty per centum compound interest, and which 
really only require two months of close attention out of the 
twelve. In this we refer to the rearing of cattle and sheep* 
and more particularly the latter, and to the one month at lamb- 
ing, and the one month at shearing time. 

Fifth — For her lands in large bodies, whose titles, under 
grants from the former governments of the country, are equal 



170 BBEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 

to the United States land patents, and which can now be pur- 
chased at mere nominal prices, as it were, but which must in a 
very few years command fabulous prices for pastoral purposes 
alone. If we examine the industrial history of California for 
the past quarter century, we have an illustrative idea of what 
New Mexico will be a few years hence. 

We repeat, no Territory or State offers such inducements as 
New Mexico; for the investment — the safe and profitable invest- 
ment — of capital, though its amount be millions of dollars, 
chiefly in landed estates. 

If we have failed to bring to light and attention at least a 
few of the many advantages our Territory possesses and offers, 
in the foregoing pages, it has been the fault of the head and 
not of the heart. And here we leave the subject, to be renewed 
at an isarly day, we trust, by a more able, but uot less impartial 
pen than ours. 



A WORD SPECIAL. 



Inasmuch as in New Mexico we have not as yet the means 
of general and facile conveyance off the principal thoroughfares, 
and travel conveyance may not always be readily procuied for 
examining particular parts of the country, we suggest to parties 
coming into the Territory with a view of seeing and investing 
in it, that they procure at the terminus of the railroads a light 
wagon and a pair of animals, to better f;icilitate their move- 
ments in examining such parts of the country as they may 
desire to see, after which, sale can always be made of the outfit, 
such being exceedingly scarce. It is with great difficulty that 
a team and wagon can be procured here at from $5 to $6 per 
day, if at all. 

Distance from terminus of railroads to Santa Fe, about three 
hundred miles; coach fare, twenty cents per mile; meals, one 
dollar each, extra. Coaches leave and arrive daily from termi- 
nus of railroads; also a weekly coach from Santa Fe to El Paso 
and Silver City — fare same as eastern line, with a daily mail — 
balance of week days mail goes daily on << buckboard." 

On other routes the mails are weekly and semi-weekly, 
carried generally on horseback. 



NEW MEXICO. 



After the manuscript of this work had been phiced in the 
hands of the printer, and the matter put in type, the following 
from the Washington correspondent of the Alia California, C. A. 
Wetmore, and pul>lishod in its issue of June 5, 1874, came to 
our notice, and it is inserted here as containing additional intcl- 
legence from an undeniable source, and we believe will be read 
with interest by parties desiring further information of the 
Territory of New Mexico ! 

[From the Special Correspondent of the " Alta," at Washington. 

WAsnixGTON, May 25, 1874. — New Mexico is halfway into the Union at 
present writing. Sh-c is a territory in chrysolis, about to enierffc into the 
panopolies of one of the <!;reat sisterhood of States. The lloase having 
passed, by a large majority, the bill providing for the admission of the Ter- 
ritory of New Mexico into the Union, the Senate can hardly do less. Still, 
it is feared the Senate may prove hostile, or at least refuse to act on the bill 
this session. There are no tenable objections against the admission of New 
Mexico. In population and in resources she (Mjmpares favorably with the 
new States which have preceded her, and under a State Government her 
population is certain to increase rapidly, while her resources will be more 
fully developed. 

Mr. Elkins, the Delegate from New Mexico, in his very able speech on 
the admission of that Territory — a maiden effort, by the way, and one 
which had the undivided attention of the House — iisked for the admission 
of New Mexico as a State iuto the Union on the following grounds and for 
the following reasons: 

First — Because she is entitled to such admission as a matter of right, 
having the requisite population prescribed by law, and the capacity to sup- 
port a State Government. 

Second — She is entitled to admission into the Union by reason of the 
promises and assurances made by our Government to her people previous 
to the ratification of the Treaty of (jluadaloupe Hidalgo, by which she was 
ceded to the United States, as also by the terms and stipi^lations of the 
treaty itself. 

POrULATIOX. 

Could a correct census have been taken in 1870, Mr. Elkins believes it 
would have shown a population of about 110,000, not including the Pueblo 
Indians, recently decided by the Supreme Court of New 3Iexico to be citi- 
zens of the United States. Taking, however, the census of 1870, and con- 
sidering the 23,000 given to Arizona and Colorado Territories, it will show 
the increase in the population of New Mexico to have been about 35 per 
cent., notwithstanding during most all of this period the Territory was 
cursed by sanguinary Indian wars, her people killed and her property sto- 
len, her mining, stock-raising and other industrial enterprises paralyzed, 
and the nearest railway a tli<iusand miles from her border. 

The average increase of twenty or more of the older States dnring that 
time was only about 20 per cent., and the actual increase proper of New 
Mexico has been about 10 per cent, greater in the last ten years than that 
of Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, 



172 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Khode Island and 
Tennessee. 

The present population is estimated to be about 135,000. The south- 
ern, northern and eastern portions of the Territory are rapidly settling, 
and have been since 1870, with a very substantial class of inhabitants, de- 
voted as they are for the most part to stock-raising and farming. This 
increased impetus given to immigration to the portion of the Territory just 
named, is owing to the fact that for the last three years New Mexioo has 
been free from Indian hostilities, for which reason also, since 1870, in those 
portions large mining districts have been opened and occupied. 

Fifteen States have been admitted into the Union with a less population 
than New Mexico had, even in 1870 (this was a stumper for the opponents 
of the bill), and, it is asked, " if fifteen of the twenty States admitted since 
the original thirteen have been so admitted, on an average population of 
less than 63,000, shall New Mexico, with an admitted population of 00,000 
or 70,000 in excess of this average, be allowed this long denied right?" 
The ratio of representation entitling a State to admission into the Union 
has been as follows : at first it was 30,000 ; in 1793 it was 33,000; in 1813 
it was 35,000 ; in 1823 it was 40,000; in 1833 it was 47,700 ; in 1843 it was 
70,680; in 1856 it was 93,420. No less than four States— Florida, Oregon, 
Nevada and Nebraska — have been admitted without the required ratio. 
New Mexico having more population than either of these States at the date 
of their admission. 

NEW MEXICO SOUND, FINANCIALLY. 

The ability of New Mexico to support a State Government is not 
doubted by those acquainted with her condition and resources. She will 
start on her new career with virtually no debt, the sum being now only about 
$75,000, with a sure prospect of being liquidated in a year or two at fur- 
thest. Not a county in the Territory has created a debt for any purpose. 
The warrants in most of the counties are worth one hundred cents on the 
dollar. The people favor the cash system. They are wisely conserva- 
tive in all monetary affairs, and are adverse to creating either a territorial 
or county debt, and their conservatism has been greatly strengthened by 
the fact that they see in other portions of the country the inhabitants are 
groaning beneath town, city, county and State debt, often recklessly in- 
creased. New Mexico being an old country, her improvements and wealth 
are substantial, the result of two centuries. Iler people have been censured 
for want of enterprise and public spirit, but now that they owe compara- 
tively nothing, and there is no necessity for any increased taxation, the 
Territory becomes peculiarly inviting to those seeking homes. While New 
Mexico is little known throughout the country generally, her merchants 
have been long and most favorably known to the commercial world in the 
cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago and St. Louis. 

RESOURCES. 

The resources of New Mexico are not surpassed by those of any state 
or territory in the Union. She has always produced and always will pro- 
duce enough to support her population. For the last ten years she has done 
this, and with the surplus supplied the army and the Indians now on res- 
ervations in the Territory. Her beautiful and fertile valleys yield an abun- 
dant return to the farmer for his labor, and as a wheat producing country 
she is certainly surpassed by none and equalejl by but few of the States 
and Territories. 

Iler boundless plains and plateaus, covered with the most nutritious 
grasses known, make her take rank preeminently as a stock-growing region. 
This branch of industry is now encouraged by accession to her stock-grow- 



ADMISSION AS A STATE. 17;5 



ers from nil parts of the country. The receipts for wool and hides shipped 
to St. Louis, Philiulolphia and New York, amounts annually to about 
S'2,tlO(),(K)0, and the rattle sent to the eastern markets, tojijetlicr with beei' 
su[)plie<l to the Indians and the army, amount to near $L!,(I(H),()()(). 

The Territory abounds in minerals of all kinds, principally coal, iron, 
leail, copper, silver and gold, and in inexhaustible (|uantities, b\it little de 
veloped and worked for want of machinery and railway connections. It is 
estimated that the mines yield annually of gold, silver and cop])cr, about 
$l2,000,(H)0. The observations of all scientists and travelers who have vis- 
ited the Territory confirm in the amplest manner her claims to immense 
coal-tiolds and iron deposits, rivaled only by those of Pennsylvania, and 
being almost equal to hers in extent and quality. 

FUTURE COAL TRADE. 

It is estimated by one of the best authorities in the whole country that 
in the completion of either the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, or the Kan- 
sas Pacific Railway to Cimarron, New Mexico, there will grow up in a short 
time a coal trade of three thousand tons per day to supply six hundred 
miles of country, reaching from the base of the Rocky Mountains down the 
Valley of the Arkansas River far into the neighboring State of Kansas. 
This coal must be supplied from New Mexico ; it can come fnmi no other 
quarter; and this will be only the beginning of the coal trade, not to speak 
of the copper, lead, iron, and precious ores that will be shipped for reduction. 

MANUFACTURING ELEMENTS. 

New Mexico must become a manufacturing country. She has all the 
elements necessary to this end. Unskilled labor and the necessaries of life 
are cheaper in New Mexico than in the Atlantic states and in the Missis- 
sippi valley, and when it is considered that New Mexico has in the greatest 
abundance coal, iron, lead, copper and silver, also wool and hides, the time 
is certainly not far distant when she will have nianufiictures of all kinds, 
and instead of paying high freight for cloths, carpets, shoes, machinery, 
farming utensils and railroad iron, she will not only from her own manufac- 
tures supply the wants of her people, but compete with the manufactories 
of the east in supplying less favored sections. 

RAILWAYS. 

Five lines of lailway are under construction, and pointing to New 
Mexico — the Texas and Pacific, Atlantic and Pacific, Atchison, Topeka and 
Santa Fe, Kansas Pacific, and Denver and' Rio Grande; three are within 
ninety miles of her borders, with a fair prospect of being rapidly extended, 
and three will terminate within the heart of New Mexico, and two it is sup- 
posed will become transcontinental. 

EDUCATION. 

Although education has been much neglected in New Mexico, I have 
pleasure in stating that the people have become aroused to its transcendent 
importance, and in LS7I the Legislature passeil an Act establishing a com- 
mon-school system throughout the Territory, and provided for the support 
thereof that there should be set apart not only the poll tax and one-lourth 
of all other taxes, but a certain surplus in the various county treasuries. 
This Act has been in operation about three years, and according to the re- 
port of the Secretary of the Territory there are now established and in full 
operation, one hundred and thirty-three public schools. From this it will 
be seen that New Mexico appropriates a larger share of her taxes for the sup- 
port of her public schools than any other State or Territory in the Union, and 
as yet she has had no help from any source whatever for school purposes. 
In addition to the public schools there are a number of colleges and high 
he Territory. 



schools in the Territory. 



174 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 



WHY TERRITORIES SEEK TO BECOME STATFS. 

It is often asked why Territories seek so zealously to become States. 
To those who have lived in Territories no answer to this interrogatory is 
needed, but to those who have not enjoyed this experience, I desire to say 
that the interests of a Territory to the General Government are necessarily 
secondary. The Territories have no vote and no power, and are therefore 
not heard. The long arm of the Government cannot reach the distant and 
remote sections and jealously guard tJie rights of the people, anticipate their 
wants and build up their interests. In trying to do so the GoYernment is 
attempting too much, and what was never contemplated. The Territories 
want local self-government, because they can better build up their own 
interests and insure their own prosperity as States. The history of the 
whole country attests that States flourish and increase more rapidly than 
Territories. The following table will show these facts: 

Tennessee admitted in 1796 ; population in 1790, 35,791 ; in 1800, 
105,002. 

Ohio admitted in 1802; population in 1800, 45,365; in 1810, 230,700. 

Louisiana admitted in 1812; population in 1810, 76,550; in 1820, 
153,407. 

Indiana admitted in 1810; population in 1810, 24,520; in 1820, 
147,178. 

Mississippi admitted in 1817; population in 1810,40,322; in 1820, 
75,-J48. 

Illinois admitted in 1818; population in 1810, 12.282; in 1820,55,200. 

Missouri admitted in 1821 ; population in 1820, 00,586; in 1830, 140,455. 

Arkansas admitted in 1836 ; population in 1830, 43,388 ; in 1840, 
97,674. 

Michigan admitted in 1837 ; population in 1830, 31,639 ; in 1840, 
212,267. 

Florida admitted in 1845 ; population in 1840, 54,477 ; in 1850, 87,445. 

Wisconsin admitted in 1848; population in 1840, 30,495; in 1850, 
305,391. 

Iowa admitted in 1848; population in 1840, 43,112; in 1850, 192,214. 

California admitted in 1850; population in 1850, 92,597. 

Minnesota admitted in 1858 ; population in 1850, 0,077 ; in 1800, 
173,855. 

Oregon admitted in 1859; population in 1850, 13,294; in 1860, 52,465. 

Nevada admitted in 1864; population in 1860, 6,857 ; in 1870, 42,491. 

Nebraska admitted in 1867 ; population in 1860, 28,841 ; in 1870, 122,993. 

THE EASTERN IDEA OF A TERRITORY. 

The idea of a Territory to the people of the east suggests want of law, 
want of protection to property and life, want of society ; indeed, the word 
is a synonym for disorder and lawlessness, for which reason emigration and 
capital find their way so slowly into the territories ; but, on the contrary, a 
state carries with it the idea of law, order, strength and dignity, and has 
invariably attracted immigration and promoted prosperity. 

But, in addition to all this, the keeping and holding large bodies of peo- 
ple in remote localities in territorial bondage and subjection ; governing 
them by laws they have no part in enacting; taxing them without repre- 
sentation ; denying them the right to elect their own officers ; appointing to 
the highest places among them entire strangers, who have no interest in the 
country, who sometimes prove to be merp political adventurers, is not only 
unjust and unrepublican, but hostile to our ideas of true government. 

It is often said j'ou have a legislature and a delegate in congress. This 
is worse than no answer. The first is a farce, a political hybrid, without 



ADMISSION AS A STATE. 175 



sovereifjnty ; the second only a beggar at the doors of the executive and 
congress, without power. Then, to escape from tliis vnssahigc, subserviency 
and injustice, where there is no growth, no encouragement, but where 
everything is dwarfed and limited, we ask to be admitted as a State. 

AN ELOQUENT APPEAL. 

New Mexico has been in lier pupihige about twenty-six years. She has 
had her delegates during that period cm this floor, who, like other delegates, 
in season and out of season, have implored and importuned the general 
government for attention to the wants of the people, sliowing that their 
necessities were great ; but for the most part Congress, I learn, has been 
deaf to their entreaties. 

By applying for admission, New Mexico testifies her willingness to 
relieve you of the expense of continuing in existence a territorial govern- 
ment, and enables y'>u to reduce your annual appropriations at a time wlien 
economy and retrenchment is the popular demand. She has shown herself 
amply able to support a State government and kce]i her credit; and above 
anil beyond all, she has shown her devotion to our institutions, and her fit- 
ness tt> become a member ot the Union, by giving up the lives of some of 
her noblest sons to maintain the one and preserve the other. 

TOE MEXICAN POPULATION. 

One reason argued against the admission of New Mexico has been her 
large Mexican population. Of this class Mr. PHkins said: Unlike many of 
own people, more fortunate, who had been born and educated under our 
flag, the Mexican population did not hesitate, did not doubt, but saw their 
duty clear; and when the proclamation of the President of the United 
States came, calling for tnjops for help; and when the cause of the Union 
looked dark and doubtiul, and when General Sibley's trained soldiers from 
the Confederate armies were already on the soil, these pet)ple as one man 
rallied under their adopted flag, and fought gallantly to preserve the Union 
into which they now seek admission. Ilow well they did their duty let the 
graves at Fort Craig and Peralta, on the banks of their owj loved Rio 
Grande, and at Apuciie Canon, testify. They loved the Union well enough 
to tight for it, and the Union ought to love them enough to adopt them as 
her sons in truth and in fact. 

But apart from all these considerations, which it would seem were of 
themselves overwhelmingly sufticient to induce Congress to at oncC provide 
for the admission of New Mexico into the Union, I claim her right to 
admission on still higher grounds and for stronger reasons, which cannot, 
certainly ought not, to be disregarded by Congress. I claim it by virtue of 
the stipulations of the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, and the pntinises and 
assurances of our government previous to the ratification of the same. 

Of this treaty Mr. Klkiiis gave a full and interesting history. lie then 
treated of the history of New Mexico, of its salubrious and Ijracing climate, 
its agricultural, pastoral and mineral resources, its capacity as a wine pro- 
ducing country, and concluded with these eloquent and prophetic words: 

"The Rocky mountains not only maintain a peculiar relation to the great 

filains that lie between her Imse on the Missouri river, so ably set forth by 
*rofi'ssor Wilbur, but with the whole country. The Mississippi valley and 
the I'acitic coast are no longer divided by an inseparable barrier ; they have 
shaken hands across the backbone of the continent, and bcfome wedded in 
a common interest, the ceremony having been performed in the presence of 
the unijcstic and snow clad peaks of the Sicirra Nevadas, who stood as the 
grand and silent witnesses to this happy union, ^hich has been recently 
more closely strengthened by bands of iron. 



176 bkevoort's new Mexico. 



The Rocky mountains rest on vast coal beds. Here, in the not very far 
future, we must go for coal, the great desideratum of our civilization, the 
basis of almost all power and nearly of all wealth, without which the world 
would suddenly stop, but with which it will move on to new and astonishing 
conquests in science, art, mechanics and manufactures. 

By an unnatural usurpation cotton was once called and believed by some 
to be king; but time and the natural laws of commerce have served to dis- 
pel this delusion, and coal, with his ebon brow, has come to the front, and 
by unanimous consent been crowned king forever; and from his dark throne, 
with his brother iron, wields the scepter of empire over all human indus- 
tries, his realms being measured only by man's ingenuity. 

In the United States the home and throne of this king is in the Rocky 
mountains ; his children live and rule in the Alleghanies and the Missis- 
sippi valley. The Rocky mountains will play no ordinary or secondary 
part in the future of this country. So long unknown, light is beginning to 
dawn ; we are but catching glimpses of the future grandeur and glory of 
this great empire. 

In New Mexico the time is not far distant when a thousand furnaces for 
the reduction of ores will light up the sides of her vast mountains, and this 
ore, drawn by a thousand engines busy by day and night, will be poured 
into the lap of the Mississippi valley ; and millions of sheep, cattle and 
horses will feed on her boundless plateaus." c. a. w. 



ERRATA. 



Page 59 — Second line from bottom of page: read " a popu- 
lation of 4,500," instead of <' 2,600." 

Page 60 — Sixth line from top of page: read << heretofore 
has been,''^ instead of, ''ts Jcept in a state of constant alarm." 



THE END. 



ELIAS BREVOORT, 

Resident 24 years in New Mexico, 

NEW MEKICO LAND GRANT AGENCY, 

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO. 



Will have on hand, purchase and sell tracts of Agricultviral, Coal, Tim- 
ber and Mineral Lands : City Lots, Lands and Houses, together with Gold, 
Silver and other mines. Spanish and Mexican land grants worked up and 
purchased from first hands ; reliable information furnished with regard to 
land grants, -mines, titles, etc. Translations, surveys, maps and plats made 
and furnished to order by competent experts. Best legal advisers, survey- 
ors, draughtsmen and copyists in attendance. 



MEFERENCES : 

JOHNSON & KOCH, Santa Fe. BOST & JENKINS. San Francisco. 

Hon, S, B. ELKINS, Washington. Hon. M. A. OTERO, Grenada, Col. 



CH^S. 'W. GORDonsr, 



jxo. w. Bosr, T. F. JKXKiyS. 

E.r-Hiiri'eyor General of Oili/oniUi. 

MW MEXICO LMD GRANTS, 

FOR SALE BY 

BOST & JENKINS, Agents, 

JVo. 331 Montgomery Street, Steve^isou Buildhig, Room 18, 
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 



Have on hand large quantities of agricultural, grazing, coal, timber and 
mineral lands, in tracts to suit, situate on and near contemplated railroads 
in Xew Mexico. 

These lands cannot be surpassed on the American continent for grazing 
purposes, being covered vrith the black-heail grama grass, so celebrated for 
its nutritious qualities, and being well watered with large, pure running 
streams, renders large quantities susceptible of irrigation for agricultural 
purposes. 

The large and profitable returns for the capitalist or stock-raiser are 
apparent at this time for an investment in these lands. We offer these 
lands for the nominal sum of from twenty-five to fifty Cents per acre, 
according to location, quality and quantity. 

There are now being built three railroads, all of which are approach- 
ing this Territory. Two of them will undouljtedly be completed as far as 
Santa Fe witliin two years. 

New Mexico is conceded to be the finest SHEEP country in the United 
States, and this is tlie last chance to l)uy LAR( IE quantities of land in a 
body cheap. 

We have an agent in the City of Santa F^ wlio will ]»e ready at all 
times to wait upon our customers. 

Titles, Spanish and Mexican grants, confirmed by U. S. Congress. 
For further particulars call upon the undersigned. 

We have also large traits of improved and unimprDvod lands in all parts 
of the State of California. 

JBOST & JENKTISrS. 

REFEllEXCES : 

Messrs. Chkisty A Wise, Sun Framisco; Hon. J. P. Jones, Nevada; 
Elias Brevoort, Santtt Fe, N. M. ; Wigginoton, Blaik A Co., Merced, Cal. 



I . 

32.(> HtiHsonie Street, rot'ner Sacramento, SAN FRANCISCO. 



v^ 



NEW MEXICO. 



HER NATURAL RESOURCES Al ATTRACTIONS 



HFTNO \ 



( 'OLLEOTION OF FACTS, 



MAINIA' (ONCJCllMNC lll'i; 



Geoffraphy, < limate, Population, Schools, Mines and 

Minerals, xVffricultural and Pastoral Capacities, 

Prospective Railroads, Public Lands, 



SPANISH x\ND MEXICAN LAND GRANTS. 



BY 



'HLIAS BREVOORT. 



Veritatis simplex Oratio est. 



.SAXTA FE: 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ELIAS BREVOORT. 



k 1874. 



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'CT 1398 
iBBKKEEPER 

PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, L.P. 
d ^^ 111 Thomson Park Drive 
/I y^S. Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
/^^} (724) 779-21 n 



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